From Darknet to Ironstrike: A 12-Year Journey in Indie Game Development

Back in 2014, E McNeill took a bold step by releasing the very first full VR game tailored for Gear VR headsets, drawing inspiration from the cinematic portrayals of cyberspace. His creation, Darknet, invites players to step into the shoes of hackers as they navigate the “Darknet” to earn virtual bitcoin. The gameplay involves hacking computing nodes, which lets you purchase more robust electronic weapons along the way.

When McNeill was initially working on Darknet between 2013 and 2014, the real-life value of a single bitcoin hovered around $1,000. Fast forward to our conversation on January 31, 2025, and that value had skyrocketed to over $100,000 per bitcoin, a decade after the game’s debut. Just imagine if McNeill had invested in, say, five bitcoins back then at $1,000 each. That investment of $5,000 would now translate to half a million dollars.

Interestingly, McNeill never ventured into buying bitcoin. Instead, he chose to dedicate the past 12 years to life as an indie game developer. His journey began with the groundbreaking VR title for Gear VR, followed by a string of VR games for most of today’s popular VR headsets.

Reflecting on his path, McNeill shared, “There was a fleeting moment when I felt like I struck gold and was on top of the world, but that moment didn’t last. Maybe if I’d bought bitcoin as we jokingly discussed earlier, things might be different now,” he mused. “But honestly, managing to sustain this indie journey for 12 years is something I never expected. If I could travel back and tell my younger self, ‘Hey, you’ll make this work for at least 12 years,’ that would’ve been a dream come true.”

Before McNeill headed off for a break, Don Hopper powered up Darknet: Remastered on Quest, along with McNeill’s latest action-packed games, Ironstrike and Ironlights. During an hour-long interview, Don indulged in playing each game, providing a lively backdrop to our discussion.

Towards the end, McNeill joined Don, guiding us in spell-casting and mastering combat strategies. He offered Don a hands-on tutorial for both Ironstrike and Ironlights, elucidating his distinct choices regarding weapon mechanics in VR. A special shoutout to our YouTube follower, Arlen, who joined us with insightful questions during the session. Don’t miss the full hour-long chat with McNeill, which you can find timestamped below.

Last week, we had an engaging session with the developer behind Airspace Defender and Tablecraft, employing the same in-depth format. As we plan ahead, we’re eagerly lining up more developer interviews focusing on both new and forthcoming releases.

During our stream, we immersed ourselves in three of McNeill’s creations, transitioning from Darknet: Remastered to Ironstrike and wrapping up with Ironlights. If you’re curious to explore more about his work, check out his website. Rest assured, we’ll make it a point to catch up with McNeill in the coming months.