In this episode, Jeff Linville — co-founder of Ritual Studios — returns to Game Dev Advice to talk about the journey behind his band-inspired RPG Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson. From starting a studio with college friends to launching worldwide with French publisher Playdigious, Jeff shares the hard-won lessons of taking the leap into full-time indie development.
We go into depth on what it really takes to form a studio, ship a first game, and survive the chaos between passion and business reality.

* Founding Ritual Studios after meeting at Columbia College Chicago
* How Fretless mixes music, RPG, and deck-building mechanics into one ambitious indie game
* The moment they quit their jobs to “really do it” and chase a publishing deal
* Lessons learned about funding, taxes, lawyers, and running a real company
* Building a standout pitch deck and landing a deal with Playdigious in France
* Managing bugs, Steam feedback, and localization into seven languages
* Outsourcing art and engineering — and why it’s harder than it looks
* Choosing FMOD over Wwise for advanced Unity audio integration
* Why getting your game playable early beats endless siloed prototyping
* How Cardio Ex shaped Jeff’s music-driven sound design
* Thoughts on AI tools in audio, from noise cleanup to creative limits
* Recording real medical equipment sounds
* Favorite soundtracks: Hyper Light Drifter and Guild Wars 1
* Current go-to games: Pillars of Eternity and Lord of the Rings Online
* Reflections on Mortal Kombat, Midway Games, and how player nostalgia keeps art alive
* Advice for anyone dreaming of going indie: “Be ready for it — it’s a business.”

🎥 Making-Of Documentary
Making a Musical Indie Game from Scratch (making of Fretless): 30-minute behind-the-scenes doc following Ritual Studios from PAX East to launch day: https://youtu.be/3USobO6qRHE?si=aEhUEI0dwQbMqki2 

🎮 Play / Follow
* Fretless -The Wrath of Riffson (Steam): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2429050/Fretless__The_Wrath_of_Riffson/ 
* Ritual Studios (Bluesky): https://bsky.app/profile/ritualstudios.bsky.social
* Ritual Studios (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/ritualgamestudios/?hl=en 
* Fretless Original Soundtrack (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/album/1VXVxtFzJOUYJypudcF9DN? 
* Jeff Linville @Dovetail (Linktr.ee): https://linktr.ee/dovetailmusic
* Rob Scallon (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/RobScallon 
* Playdigious (Bluesky): https://bsky.app/profile/playdigious.bsky.social 

Bio
Jeff Linville is Co-Founder of Ritual Studios, a Chicago-based indie studio that successfully published their critically acclaimed first game, Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson in July of 2025. Jeff has been in the game industry professionally for over 8 years as a Sound Designer, Composer, Game Designer, and Producer working on various titles, including Fretless, Cardio Ex, and more. 

🕹️ Game Dev Advice
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Starting an Indie Studio, Getting a Publisher, and Shipping the RPG Indie Hit Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson with Jeff Linville, Ritual Studios

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