It has been nine years since Mike Rose founded the indie publishing house No More Robots. Over that period the company has carved out a respectable niche, largely thanks to a back‑catalogue anchored by the wildly popular bike‑riding title Descenders.
Descenders was the inaugural game released under the No More Robots banner and continues to generate strong sales, cementing the label’s reputation as a reliable indie publisher. Now the studio is preparing to launch its very first self‑developed title, a cruise‑ship management simulation called Cruise Control. The road to this release has not been straightforward; it involved a major strategic pivot. The idea for Cruise Control originated from a conversation between Rose and Dan Foster, a developer who joined No More Robots to handle console ports and brought with him a background in online multiplayer from his time at Team 17.
Their discussion initially sparked the concept of a team‑based online shooter. After three years of development, the shooter attracted the attention of a "big company"—a partner Rose described as someone he knew very well.
However, that partner ultimately withdrew, claiming the project was not a good fit. The timing coincided with the brief appearance and rapid removal of the game Concord, hinting at broader challenges in the online‑shooter market. "As you can imagine, a tiny studio like ours can’t simply launch an online multiplayer shooter on its own," Rose explains.
"I could have tried to find another partner, but the blow from a respected collaborator was crushing. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had in this industry." Faced with the stalled shooter, Rose had to decide how his five‑person team would move forward. He landed on the concept of Cruise Control, a project he believed could be produced quickly and would tap into a PC genre that historically performs well.
The initial vision was a cruise‑ship management game in the vein of Two Point Hospital or Two Point Museum, but as development progressed the design shifted toward a puzzle‑oriented experience inspired by titles like Mini Motorways. Releasing a game that the studio itself has built feels fundamentally different from publishing someone else’s work. While the anxiety levels are higher, Rose sees a much larger upside.
"Because we own 100 % of Cruise Control, each sale is worth three or four times as much to us as a typical publishing cut," he says. "If the game matches the performance of one of our existing hits, that would be massive for the company." Should Cruise Control succeed, Rose hints that No More Robots may revive the abandoned shooter, though likely in a more modest form. A demo already exists, but the final product would probably be scaled back, perhaps reimagined as a PvE experience rather than a competitive PvP title. "PvP shooters are not a viable path for a small studio," he notes.
"Entering that space would be insane." Reflecting on recent years in the gaming industry, Rose describes the landscape as a "massacre". The COVID‑19 boom did not lead No More Robots to over‑expand; in fact, the prospect of rapid growth terrified Rose, allowing the company to avoid the deep cuts that forced many peers to downsize.
He admits that this cautious approach turned out to be an "accidental genius" move. At the end of 2021 Rose decided to split all profits among the staff, rewarding the team generously and entering 2022 with the expectation that the same would happen again. When revenues dipped, the company simply broke even because it had not taken on additional overhead. "We don’t need massive profits; everyone gets paid, we release games, we have fun," Rose says.
"I know it sounds naïve and stupid, but somehow it works." The publishing model at No More Robots has remained fairly consistent. The flagship Descenders was produced on a five‑figure budget, as were most of the label’s other releases, including Hypnospace Outlaw and Yes, Your Grace. A few titles received larger budgets during the pandemic, a period Rose admits he got a bit carried away with, leading to a couple of financial missteps. Today the company has reverted to five‑figure budgets for the majority of its projects, with the notable exception of Another Door, a multiplayer roguelike slated for release with a $180,000 budget.
Rose recalls telling his wife he was certain about Another Door, to which she replied, "Just go for it." The game has generated strong early interest, and Rose is hopeful his intuition proves correct. Nevertheless, most of the studio’s projects continue to operate on modest budgets because the indie market is notoriously unpredictable; it is nearly impossible to forecast which titles will become breakout hits. "I have to assume every game will perform decently," he explains. "If we happen to be the flavor of the month, that’s fantastic, but we can’t rely on that.
Our strategy is to build launches around the idea that ‘if this launch is okay, we’ll be fine; if it’s amazing, we’ll be great.’ That’s how you survive in this business." Descenders remains the label’s biggest triumph, having generated over $35 million in revenue. Remarkably, about half of those sales occurred in the most recent year, with a surge between April and September 2025 that Rose describes as a sudden "pop" without any obvious catalyst. He believes part of the game’s enduring appeal lies in its accidental similarity to Roblox experiences. "Kids can just launch Descenders, hold the trigger, and the bike goes brrrr," he laughs.
"We originally marketed it to mountain‑bike enthusiasts and adults in their thirties, but the majority of Steam reviews are from kids saying exactly that." The Roblox similarity even led to talks about creating an official Roblox version of Descenders. After a six‑month negotiation involving a ten‑step approval process, Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki ultimately rejected the proposal, claiming the game was too different from existing content and would confuse users. Rose acknowledges that, while a self‑funded Roblox port might have been a gamble, he somewhat regrets not pursuing it given Roblox’s massive audience. No More Robots has refocused on PC releases after a period of console‑centric titles delivered through Game Pass deals, which Rose describes as "huge" for the scale of games the label publishes.
While wishlists and pre‑orders have traditionally served as barometers of future success, Rose now places greater emphasis on organic interest. He monitors Steam wishlist graphs for steady upward trends rather than spikes tied to marketing pushes, interpreting consistent growth as a healthier sign of community engagement.
This organic momentum is evident with Another Door, which is amassing thousands of wishlists daily without any promotional effort. A modest influencer push multiplies that number by four, reinforcing Rose’s confidence that the game could replicate Descenders’ success. "We’re at least six months from launch, and I already feel the potential," he says.
"It’s rare to have that kind of certainty." Despite the excitement surrounding a potential blockbuster, Rose admits that after nine years he feels "drained" and is eager for a new challenge. He continues to wear many hats within the company, handling a large portion of day‑to‑day operations himself. Even the recent launch of Thank You for Your Application, which he describes as a "sleepless‑night" experience, added to his stress levels. "I don’t want to keep doing this forever," Rose confesses.
"I’m looking for something new, a fresh challenge, and I already have ideas about what that could be." In summary, No More Robots’ journey illustrates the delicate balance between cautious budgeting, opportunistic pivots, and the occasional serendipitous hit. From a modest indie publisher to the creators of a multi‑million‑dollar title, the company has navigated industry upheavals with a philosophy that values sustainable growth over reckless expansion. As Cruise Control prepares for launch and Another Door builds momentum, Rose and his small team stand on the cusp of what could be their most significant achievements yet—while also contemplating the next chapter in their professional lives.