RIT students launch studio to bring bad game ideas to life

According to Steven Spielberg, all good ideas start out as bad ideas. That’s why a duo from RIT has launched the game studio Bad Ideas Productions.

The indie game studio was co-founded in late 2025 by Jonny RaZeR, a 2025 graduate from the individualized program, and Mary Haley, a fifth-year game design development BS/MS student. Nearly a dozen other RIT alumni and students are also making games with the new studio.

On Steam and itch.io, gamers approve of the studio’s bad ideas. The Salesman, the first game produced by the studio, has already sold 8,000 times—at $5 for the game.

“We want to make stuff that nobody else is making and pushes the boundaries of what a modern game can be,” said Haley, who is from Biloxi, Miss. “With shorter, cheaper experiences we can do that experimentation and make it a sustainable studio.”

RaZeR and Haley met while playing Dungeons & Dragons at RIT and bonded over late night brainstorms at Taco Bell. One of their ideas was to diversify RaZeR’s popular Jonny RaZeR YouTube Channel and start making games. Combined with Haley’s experience producing more than 25 games, they started to build a plan.

“Bad Ideas was my first big series on YouTube, where I’d break down ridiculous concepts for movies and games,” said RaZeR. “The whole idea is that some people are going to think your ideas aren’t good or aren’t going to work, but it doesn’t matter. You can still find the right audience regardless of what the idea is.”

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Bad Ideas Productions

'The Salesman' was the first game published by Bad Ideas Productions.

The Salesman is a psychological horror game where players take on the role of a recently laid-off employee trying to survive the grind of job applications, debt, and trading off belongings for ad-supported replacements. James Zilberman ’24 (game design and development), ’25 MS (game design and development) also worked as programmer and 3D modeler on the $5 unemployment simulator game.

When the game launched in November, popular streamers CaseOh and Kubz Scouts did playthroughs of The Salesman and racked up more than 1.5 million views—making it one of the most popular games on Twitch during the day of the game’s launch. That success has been crucial in helping gain an audience for upcoming projects at the studio.

Building a catalog of games

One key to the business is lining up games to publish and building a back catalog for the studio’s Steam followers.

“A lot of indie studios don’t exist past one game,” said Haley. “What’s unique is we have a multi-year development plan.” 

In 2026, the studio plans to publish LIMP KNIGHT. In the game, a knight with battle wounds from war begins the long, uncertain journey home—one leg at a time. Alex Dale ’24 (game design and development) served as level designer for the game, and Annalee Dorozynski, a fifth-year game design and development major, was the 3D artist.

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Bad Ideas Productions

In 'Mushroom Kid’s Big Grass Sword', players must time their jumps and angle the blade to overcome challenges and traverse a mystical world.

The studio will also publish Mushroom Kid’s Big Grass Sword. The platformer game follows Mica, a little mushroom on a journey to claim a powerful weapon and rescue its village after the residents are captured by a gigantic bird. In 2023, the game was part of RIT’s MAGIC Maker Program, which provides students with the funding, studio space, and mentoring support to manage their own digital media projects and prepare them for publication and investment-readiness. 

Other RIT creators of Mushroom Kid’s Big Grass Sword include game design and development alumni Twig Sheherlis ’25, Amanda Rowe ’25, Dariel Ravelo-Ramos ’25, Ethan Lin ’25 (computer engineering), Liam Armitage ’25, and Tyler Samay ’25.

Haley said the goal for the studio is to have a web of developers that can take on different projects on a contract basis. Haley also noted that the studio is not using AI to create content.

“We all share in the revenue of games that come out, so it’s a cool system of everyone making games the best they can be,” said Haley. “The gaming industry is rough right now and we want to help developers make games to put on their resumes.”

They also plan to utilize RaZeR’s shortform social media content to market the games. RaZeR said that he hopes to interview artists and developers, giving them a platform to share behind the scenes of what went into making the games.

“We’re thinking about what the market is lacking, what people want more of or aren’t seeing, and stepping in,” said RaZeR. “We don’t necessarily need to make the next big thing—we hope to make something that makes a few thousand people smile.”

For more information, go to the Bad Ideas Productions website.