 = Development of Fez = 
 
 The high @-@ profile and protracted five @-@ year development of Fez led to its status as an " underdog darling of the indie game scene " . The 2012 puzzle platform game built around rotating between four 2D views of a 3D space was developed by indie developer Polytron Corporation and published by Polytron , Trapdoor , and Microsoft Studios . Over the course of the game 's development , Fez designer and Polytron founder Phil Fish received celebrity for his outspoken public persona and prominence in the 2012 documentary Indie Game : The Movie , which followed the game 's final stages of development and Polytron 's related legal issues . The game was released to critical acclaim as an Xbox Live Arcade timed exclusive , and was later ported to other platforms . It had sold one million copies by the end of 2013 . 
 Fish and Shawn McGrath collaborated on a puzzle game that became Fez . When McGrath left the project due to creative differences , Fish , the game 's artist , pursued a platform game direction with <unk> Bédard , the game 's programmer , who wrote the game 's level editor and game engine from scratch . Levels were built in 3D by <unk> surfaces with <unk> @-@ created textures . Bédard and Fish were joined by three different animators and other collaborators . The game was first announced in June 2007 and won an award at the 2008 Independent Games Festival and entered the public spotlight . Fish created a studio , Polytron Corporation , and was later aided by nearby developer @-@ publisher Trapdoor when Polytron ran out of money . Fez won several more <unk> awards , including the 2012 <unk> <unk> Grand Prize . 
 
 = = History = = 
 
 Fez 's development cycle developed a reputation for its protracted five @-@ year length and public exposure . Nathan Grayson of <unk> likened the game 's rocky development process to " an indie Duke <unk> Forever " . <unk> reviewer Arthur <unk> wrote that the game was an " underdog darling of the indie game scene " for four years prior to its release . The game 's designer , Phil Fish , became renowned in a way unusual for game developers due to his prominence in Indie Game : The Movie , which released in 2012 . While the game was released to wide acclaim , Fish himself became known for his outspoken and <unk> public persona . 
 The game that became Fez began in a collaboration between Montreal @-@ based Phil Fish and Toronto @-@ based Shawn McGrath on McGrath 's idea for a puzzle game : a four @-@ sided 3D space with each side in 2D , similar to Fish 's 3D <unk> ( <unk> ) as incorporated into Fez . The entirety of Fez 's design , lore , and art descends from this game mechanic . Fish provided the project 's art and credited his influence to Shigeru Miyamoto and <unk> Miyazaki . Fish and McGrath 's partnership <unk> due to creative differences , as Fish wanted to create a platform game . Fish continued to work on the game in his spare time and announced his search for a programmer on <unk> , and the first person to reply , <unk> Bédard , became lead programmer . They were both the same age and living in Montreal . Though Bédard had some <unk> experience in 3D graphics and was studying computer science , Fez was his first professional game development project . His first task was to write the level editor and game engine . 
 Fez was first announced in July 2007 on The Independent Gaming Source . A trailer released in October 2007 convinced Jason DeGroot to join the development team as a producer . DeGroot , also known as " <unk> " , first met Fish at a 2006 E3 party , and started work on the game 's soundtrack and sound effects . The soundtrack was ultimately composed by Rich " <unk> " <unk> and the sound effects by Brandon <unk> . The game was nominated for two awards at the 2008 Independent Games Festival ( <unk> ) at the Game Developers Conference ( <unk> ) : Excellence in Visual Art and the Design Innovation Award . As Fez was a side project , Fish was employed full @-@ time at Artificial Mind and Movement in Montreal , where he worked on a tie @-@ in game for a film . He was not permitted time off to attend the event and thus decided to quit his job in January 2008 — a moment he later marked as " when I became indie " . The game won " Excellence in Visual Art " , and created a surge of public interest in the game concurrent to a similar swell of interest in indie game developers . Fish received a Canadian government loan to open Polytron Corporation as a startup company and began full @-@ time work on Fez . In July 2009 , Polytron announced a release for Xbox Live Arcade in early 2010 . Polytron and Microsoft agreed to release Fez as an Xbox exclusive , a deal Fish later recalled as sensible . Fish designed the game as " a console game , not a PC game " , and felt that the way he intended the game to be experienced — with a controller on a <unk> — was " part of the medium " . Polytron ruled out a <unk> release due to problems Fish had with their platform and developer options . 
 Development continued with a more experimental ethos until the company began to run out of capital . The Canadian government loan that had funded Polytron 's <unk> phase was not renewed for their production phase . They also lost funding from the organization that preceded the Indie Fund as Polytron 's producer left the company . Fish borrowed money from friends and family for three months to keep the company open . In dire <unk> , he considered <unk> the project . In March 2011 , the nearby <unk> developer @-@ publisher Trapdoor offered to help Polytron , having just signed a deal with Electronic Arts to publish their own game , <unk> . Trapdoor assisted with Polytron 's finances and operations and offered to treat them as part of their company and let them keep their intellectual property rights in exchange for a portion of Fez 's earnings . Fish felt that partnership rescued the game . 
 Fish is shown preparing for Fez 's March 2011 <unk> East booth in the 2012 documentary film Indie Game : The Movie , which chronicles the stories of several indie developers at various stages of their games ' development cycles . As a subplot , the film presents Fish amidst a legal dispute with a former business partner that <unk> the game 's future . The partner , believed to be Jason DeGroot , is portrayed negatively and does not participate <unk> . The film 's end credits were later corrected to reflect that Fish 's business partner was not asked for input . Game Informer called Fish the film 's " most memorable developer " , and Rock , Paper , <unk> wrote that Fish is portrayed as melodramatic , theatrical , and neurotic , in a way that <unk> his outspoken public perception . Eurogamer said that the part where Fish resolves to kill himself if he does not release his game is " the film 's most startling moment " . 
 Fez won the <unk> Choice Award at the September 2011 Fantastic Arcade , Best in Show and Best Story / World Design at the October 2011 <unk> , and the <unk> <unk> Grand Prize at the 2012 <unk> Independent Games Festival . It was also a 2011 Penny Arcade Expo " <unk> 10 " selection . Fez was displayed in its entirety in a secluded lounge room at the October 2011 <unk> festival in Nottingham , England . Fish considered the demo their most fruitful yet . Fish told a <unk> reporter that he had received positive feedback from Independent Games Festival Chairman Brandon Boyer and <unk> designer Jonathan Blow . Near the end of development , Fish felt " burnt out " and that his personal health had suffered . The final game included almost none of the original work from the first two years of development . After several delays , Fez was submitted for certification in February 2012 . 
 
 = = = Release = = = 
 
 Fez was released on April 13 , 2012 and sold 200 @,@ 000 copies in its <unk> exclusivity to the Xbox Live Arcade platform . Several months later , Polytron became embroiled in a high @-@ profile dispute with Microsoft over the cost of <unk> the game . Polytron had released a fix that resolved many of the game 's technical issues but introduced another that corrupted the saved games for about one percent of users . They withdrew the patch , but found Microsoft 's fee for subsequent patch releases <unk> , and chose to reinstate the withdrawn patch as their most <unk> option . Polytron drew ire for the decision , which raised awareness for the business needs of indie developers . In July 2013 , a year later , Microsoft announced that they no longer charged for patches , and Fish tweeted that Polytron 's patch would take " a couple of months " . Speaking in <unk> of the release , Fish " fiercely criticized " Fez co @-@ publisher Microsoft Games Studios for <unk> the game 's release . Fish cited a lack of promotion and publicity , and poor advertising of the game on Microsoft 's digital market . 
 In March 2013 , Fish announced a May 1 , 2013 release for the game 's PC port , and opened <unk> on <unk> and Steam . The game 's OS X and Linux ports debuted in the pay @-@ what @-@ you @-@ want Humble Indie <unk> 9 on September 11 , 2013 . Polytron announced ports for PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 3 , and PlayStation Vita in August 2013 as in development through <unk> , which were released on March 25 , 2014 . The PlayStation releases include cross @-@ console support for " cross @-@ buy " ( where one digital purchase allows access across multiple consoles ) and " cross @-@ save " ( game save sharing between consoles ) , as well as support for 3D <unk> , the <unk> 4 controller 's decorative <unk> , and graphical upgrades due to the full port into the C + + programming language . Ports for <unk> and iOS were also announced . Fish announced eventual ports for " ' pretty much ' every platform " but the Nintendo 3DS . 
 Bédard planned to leave Polytron after finishing Fez to experience work with a full development team , but stayed to port the Windows release before joining Toronto 's <unk> Games . He credited the game 's long development cycle to his own inexperience in game development ( compounded by the team 's small size and difficulty in setting reasonable milestones ) , the game 's scope , and Fish 's <unk> . Fish had hoped that players would discuss Fez 's nuances online after the game 's release . Players collaborated online for a week to solve the final " <unk> " puzzle by brute force . Ars Technica described the apparent end to the game 's harder puzzles as " <unk> " , but Fish told Eurogamer in March 2013 that hidden in @-@ game secrets remain to be found . 
 More than three years after its digital launch , Fez received a physical release designed by Fish and limited to a signed edition of 500 in December 2015 . The deluxe package included the soundtrack and a stylized red notebook with gold foil <unk> . 
 
 = = Design = = 
 
 When Bédard joined the project , the game focused on the 2D – 3D mechanic and did not yet have open world ambitions . He coded the game in Microsoft Visual C # Express and <unk> Game Studio Express . His first task , the level editor <unk> , was coded from scratch in <unk> and inspired by <unk> . Bédard also wrote the game engine , <unk> Technology , which turns 2D tiles ( " <unk> " ) into sides of a 3D <unk> pixel . The engine tracks player @-@ character Gomez in 3D space even though the game behaves as a 2D platformer . Bédard also built the game to resolve collisions when converting between 3D and 2D space . 
 Fish created pixel art in <unk> for each <unk> side ( " <unk> " ) of the 3D <unk> that Bédard 's custom software compiled into 3D game assets , which Fish would <unk> as surfaces in <unk> to build levels . Fish found the level design process " overwhelming " , and Bédard has said he was relieved that it was not his job . Fish compared his design process to playing with <unk> blocks , and planned the more involved levels in graph paper to first visualize the 2D views before building the levels in the 3D software . The levels and puzzles were not <unk> in a design document , and many of the drafts levels scrapped in 2008 resurfaced to be used later in the production process . So as to fit the rotation mechanic , the levels were made tall instead of wide , and the first part of the game was designed to <unk> the player to 2D controls before introducing the 3D element . As they worked , Fish first proposed ideas that Bédard would implement . The two would then discuss and fine @-@ tune the addition — they worked well together . 
 Fish describes the game 's changes during development as " organic " — they tested different kinds of levels and replicated the types of in @-@ game exploration that the team appreciated most . It came to adopt <unk> mechanics , with " secret passages , <unk> gates , and <unk> codes " . Fish cited <unk> as another <unk> and compared its open world , <unk> narrative , and " <unk> <unk> " to Fez 's own alphabet , numeric system , and an " almost <unk> hard to get " " second set of <unk> " . Fish originally fought against having an in @-@ game map because he wanted players to draft their own . After attempting to do so himself , he changed his mind . Fish later called the in @-@ game map " probably one of the weakest aspects of the game " . Fish also fought against including the navigational assistant , Dot , but later felt that the addition was successful and a positive contribution to the game 's mythology . The <unk> itself , Fish described as an " ancient symbol of understanding the third dimension " . Fez had three different animators through its development : Paul Robertson of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World : The Game , who did the game 's animals and some of Gomez 's animations , Adam <unk> of <unk> , and Graham <unk> , who did some character animations . 
 The game 's mechanics were inspired by the Nintendo Entertainment System games Fish played in his youth , particularly Super Mario and The Legend of <unk> . Fish cited <unk> <unk> 's Ico as the game 's third inspiration , and he sought to emulate its feeling of nostalgic and isolated loneliness . Fish also sought to emulate <unk> 's " design by <unk> " philosophy , where the Ico development team would periodically remove parts of the game so as to leave only what was essential to their vision . In this way , ideas like player health and object weight puzzles were gradually struck from Fez . Fish made a personal challenge of designing a game without relying on " established mechanics " . As such , Fez was always a peaceful game and there was never an enemy coded into the game . So as to better emulate <unk> Miyazaki 's signature " open blue sky " , " feel @-@ good " atmosphere , Fish watched all of the director 's films one weekend early in the development cycle . 
 
 