Outersloth, the indie funding initiative launched by Among Us developer Innersloth in 2024, has deployed nearly $20 million across 24 games, with individual checks ranging from $50,000 to $2 million.

The figure surfaced in March during a GDC Festival of Gaming talk where Outersloth published its contract terms publicly. The program, run separately from Innersloth's core studio operations, takes 50 percent of revenue until the invested capital is recouped, then 15 percent thereafter.

Innersloth communications director Victoria Tran told Game Developer the response has been "overwhelmingly positive."

"I've never had so many random people message me or come up to me in person to gush about a contract before," Tran said. "And that's from developers, fans, investors, and even other publishers."

Why are successful developers funding competitors?

The capital flowing through Outersloth traces back to Among Us, which launched quietly in 2018 before reaching 500 million monthly active users globally by November 2020. That audience translated into revenue strong enough for Innersloth's three-person founding team to seed a sibling fund.

Innersloth CEO Forest Willard said the idea originated years earlier, when he tried and failed to invest in Moonana's Virgo Versus the Zodiac via Fig due to the platform's investment cap.

"Fast forward like 10 years to when I mentioned it to IndieBI co-founder Callum Underwood and he mentioned that Mars First Logistics was looking for some funds," Willard said.

Ian MacLarty, founder of Mars First Logistics developer Shape Shop, said he approached the fund before it was formally announced and became an early test case for its contract structure.

"They were also very hands off with the development of the game, leaving me to make the game I wanted to make, which I really appreciated," MacLarty said.

Mars First Logistics has more than recouped its funding since release, according to MacLarty. He used the capital to hire contractors including 3D artist Kalonica Qugley, composer Dan Golding, and sound designers Mark Mitchel and Byron J. Scullin.

What other developer-led funds are operating?

Landfall, the Stockholm studio behind Peak, formally unveiled Evil Landfall in early April after operating it behind the scenes for roughly three years. CEO Kirsten-Lee Naidoo told GamesIndustry.biz the program is structured to work with teams outside Landfall's internal pipeline.

"We're not limited by just the Landfall company, we can work with anybody that we want to," Naidoo said.

Evil Landfall invests up to $1 million per project, targeting a few games annually. Its portfolio includes REPO, How To Fish, and Voidigo.

Kinetic Games, developer of Phasmophobia, launched its own publishing label in January. Director of marketing and partnerships Asim Tanvir said the unit will support two to three games per year, with a focus on titles roughly a year from release.

"What we can say is we love all the great work that is happening in the indie space and our goal with the label is to bring fantastic indie projects and teams to the fore," Tanvir told Game Developer in January.

How does Outersloth compare to traditional publishing terms?

The 15 percent post-recoup royalty is unusually low for the indie publishing segment. Tran noted the public disclosure drew grumbling from some publishers but framed it as a transparency initiative rather than a competitive standard.

"The more information available to folks, the better we can all learn from each other and negotiate better deals," Tran said.

Outerloop Games co-founder and studio director Chandana Ekanayake, whose Dosa Divas sits in Outersloth's portfolio, said the studio would not have shipped the title without the funding.

"The funding pays for our development team and external partners that we worked with for QA, publishing support, PR, and marketing," Ekanayake said.

What changes as overall game investment contracts?

Crunchbase data shows video game industry venture funding fell from more than $12 billion in 2021 to $2.4 billion in 2024. The data provider reported in June that 2025 was not "shaping up as a strong year for gaming startup funding."

Developer-led funds operate outside that VC cycle. Their deployment pace is tied to commercial hits like Among Us and Peak rather than institutional capital flows.

Watch for Outersloth's next contract update and any disclosure on how many of its 24 funded projects have crossed recoupment — the first hard proof point for whether the model scales.