The Story Behind Hotline Miami Is One Of No Pants And Countless Deaths

Hotline Miami has been a runaway success, selling more than 100,000 copies (update: Devolver reached out to let us know that Hotline Miami has sold over 1.5 million copies). The story behind the game is a fascinating one that starts with a collection of prototypes and a publisher willing to take a risk.

ComplexTV’s David Lynch interviewed Dennaton Games' Jonathan Söderström and Dennis Wedin about the creation of the title. He also spoke with key representatives from publisher Devolver Digital as well as musicians M|O|O|N and Niklas Åkerblad.

“This was going to be our first foray into indie games outside of the Serious Sam series,” says Devolver’s Nigel Lowrie. “It’s changed the way Devolver works and it’s changed a lot of how indie developers can work with a larger partner and get out there and be seen.”

If you've played Hotline Miami, you know that the action has a puzzle element. You'll likely die quite a lot. Even in its early prototypes (as seen above), the game was brutally difficult. There was even a mechanism for earning more points by starting without guns or clothing. 

The video continues through the development and release of Hotline Miami and into the sequel, which continues and closes the story. You can read our reviews of Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number for more on the pair of titles.