Wausau's first video game is about to launch
We sat down with Chris Cantero of Rib Mountain to talk about the launch of his first video game, High Fructose, next week.
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Chris Cantero took a huge leap of faith.
Cantero had a solid resume from his time in the video game industry. He worked for Id Software, the company built by John Carmack and John Romero, who created the groundbreaking Doom video game. He did animation for the Planet of the Apes movie. And he even worked for video game engine company Unity.
But Cantero moved to Rib Mountain from Texas to pursue his dream of starting a video game company that could produce the games he envisioned.
The first of those is High Fructose, which Cantero was developing back in June of 2024 when The Wausonian first interviewed him.
That was a year and a half ago. A lot has happened since then - including some festivals and awards. And, the game is set to come out this month on Steam early access.
The Wausonian sat down with Cantero this week to catch up as his company, Chazak Games, is about to finally launch his first game, High Fructose.
High Fructose launch
As I speak with Cantero, High Fructose is about to launch on Steam Early Access, which allows players to buy the game at a lower price in exchange for the realization that it might not be quite as polished as a final game.
But as this reporter found, even an early demo seemed pretty solid, with not much if anything that seemed unfinished.
For those who aren’t familiar, Steam is an online sales platform for video games, primarily for computer enthusiasts.
The early version of the game will launch with one playable character, and the final version will have four, Cantero explains. He says an Xbox version is also being worked on.
Cantero has been working 12-hour days, with some outside help, to get the game finished. His Kickstarter, launched shortly after the first Wausonian article, was fully funded. Several months after that, he won a game development contest in Madison.
Cantero says the game received a very positive response from the Midwest Gaming Classic, and the trailer for the game was shown alongside AAA titles at this year’s MDEV event in Madison.
That doesn’t mean it has been easy. Cantero has had to learn some new skills now that he’s doing almost every aspect of game development himself. Everything takes twice as long as you think it’s going to. And he calls it a mix of art and science — it’s easy for things to go wrong and need fixing.
“When I worked at a studio, I could go tap on someone’s shoulder who is a programming genius,” Cantero told The Wausonian. “But when I’m on my own, I have to figure it out myself, so it takes longer.”
Cantero told The Wausonian that he grew a new sense of appreciation for certain aspects of game development he might have taken for granted in the past.
What is the High Fructose game?
First off, what is High Fructose? Cantero describes it as a roguelite game - for the non-video game players in the audience, that means it is a fast-paced, arcade-like slasher in which if your character dies, you start over. You control a ninja-like fox and slash your way through fruit enemies.
It’s fast, furious, colorful and fun, and something designed to be family-friendly.
Cantero is also promoting the game by giving access to video creators on platforms such as Twitch who can play the game on their stream, which in turn helps promote the game.
The game is set to launch on Steam Early Access on Dec. 8. It’s featured in the Bullet Heaven 3.0 Festival, a Steam sales event. And it will coincide with a Steam Festival that High Fructose will be featured in.
It’s not the only game Cantero has planned. There’s another, more complicated game he hopes to finish after getting High Fructose out.
But first thing’s first - slicing through that first game, and putting his company on the map.
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