The Witness entered development in 2009, since then it has grown exponentially. The game has gone from eight hours to somewhere between 25 and 40 hours (that's a pretty big gap) and has around 677 puzzles currently in-game. The developers have completed the puzzle creating process for the game after hitting that number.
The list of names in the game's credits won't be very long, there are only nine full-time devs and eight contributors. Even though there aren't very many people working on the game the development costs are high enough that the game's creator has dipped into his own personal funds to keep the game going.
Jonathan Blow created Braid in 2008, after spending around $200,000 in development he saw millions of dollars returned in game sales and the game is still selling well:
"Braid still sells well on platforms that are thriving, but two of Braid's big platforms were the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, both of which are sunsetting at this point," Blow told Engadget. "Not so many people are buying digital games there [PS3 and Xbox 360], so the Braid income is not nearly enough anymore to fund the team. I have borrowed a bunch of money to finish The Witness. So I hope when it's done, some people buy the game."
He has borrowed money from himself in order to ensure the success of his current project and stay true to being an independent developer. Most studios use money from their previously successful game to fund their new games, so it isn't exactly a foreign concept.
Blow recognizes that he might have taken too long in developing this game, but he doesn't mind – as long as the game is of good quality:
"If there is such a thing as taking 'too long,' we have probably already done that," he says. "20 years from now, I am not going to care about whether we took an extra six months or a year in development; I am going to care about the quality of the game people got to play. It'd be a shame to sacrifice some of that quality just to squeak the game out a little sooner. Though I do sympathize with people who have been waiting a long time to play."
[Engadget]
