adminPlanet of Lana began with an ambitious vision, a simple early demo and a long series of publisher rejections. For Swedish studio Wishfully, turning that idea into a successful game meant years of persistence, unpaid work and learning how to build a production plan that publishers could believe in.
Planet of Lana: an ambitious start
Released in 2023, Planet of Lana was Wishfully Studios’ first game. Rather than begin with a small project, the team set out to create a cinematic platform adventure that took around six years to complete. The genre was already crowded, making it difficult for a new studio to stand out.
The first pitch demo did little to show the scale of the vision. According to co-head and creative director Adam Stjärnljus, it mainly showed the protagonist moving back and forth. The movement felt sluggish, and the production schedule was unrealistic. Game director and writer Klas Martin Eriksson later summed up the team’s early approach as showing that the character could move, without yet demonstrating a compelling game.
Stjärnljus said the studio made hundreds of pitches and received hundreds of rejections. Some responses were considerate, while others were harder to hear. Still, the team continued refining its idea. The practical lesson for aspiring developers is that a pitch needs more than an appealing concept: a playable sample and a credible schedule can help others understand how the project might actually be completed.
From film and advertising to game development
Stjärnljus, Eriksson and lead game designer Dan Faxe had worked together at Makers Only, a film production company in Stockholm. Their work included corporate films and animated commercials. Over time, Stjärnljus became less interested in advertising and wanted to use his experience in film and animation to make a game he cared about.
The transition was financially demanding. Stjärnljus worked without a salary on Planet of Lana for three years. He said Sweden’s social security system and support from his wife made that period possible. A Swedish game accelerator also helped the team attend conferences and pitch to publishers, although it did not fund development itself.
When personal savings ran out, Stjärnljus and his wife invested around €20,000 ($23,000) to bring in a freelance animator and a part-time programmer. He soon concluded that the project would be much stronger with a larger team, leading him to establish Wishfully. Early employees were not paid at first, but they received a stake in the company.
The image that shaped the game
Before the game was fully formed, Stjärnljus created a Photoshop image of Lana and her companion Mui facing a black, spider-like robot in a green landscape. The scene helped communicate the atmosphere of the project and attracted attention, including from composer Takeshi Furukawa, who wrote the score for The Last Guardian and later joined Planet of Lana.
The team drew inspiration from games such as Another World, Limbo, Inside and Oddworld, as well as Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away, Ponyo and My Neighbour Totoro. An evocative visual can help communicate a creative direction, but the team’s experience also showed that an image alone is not a substitute for a workable plan and a playable demonstration.
Image credit: Wishfully/Thunderful Publishing
A vertical slice changed the project’s direction
After early pitches failed, Wishfully shifted its focus to building a vertical slice: a polished, representative section of the game that could demonstrate its look and feel. The team spent a year creating it, finishing the slice in early 2020. Xbox responded positively and agreed to an exclusivity deal, providing funds that allowed Wishfully to hire more people.
That agreement opened the door to further publisher discussions. Around eight months later, Wishfully signed with Thunderful. A little over two years after that, Planet of Lana launched. The timeline illustrates why a focused vertical slice can be useful: it gives potential partners something more substantial to assess than an early concept or a rough movement test.
Planet of Lana finds an audience
The game received strong reviews after its 2023 release, including a 9/10 score from Edge magazine. Later, it came to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, and a premium mobile version also received positive reviews. A sequel followed in 2025, extending the series beyond its original release.
Wishfully has also expressed interest in continuing to develop the Planet of Lana universe. At the time of the interview, a film adaptation was being pitched to studios and streaming services by Story Kitchen. Amber Midthunder was set to star, and Pixar veteran Angus MacLane was attached to the project. A film pitch does not guarantee that a movie will be made, so its eventual status remains subject to further development.
What the Planet of Lana story shows
Wishfully’s path from an inexperienced team to a studio with successful releases was neither quick nor certain. The developers faced a crowded genre, an underdeveloped demo and repeated rejection, but kept improving the project until they could show publishers a more complete vision.
The story of Planet of Lana offers a practical reminder for independent creators: ambition can help define a distinctive project, but steady iteration, realistic planning and a clear demonstration of the idea are essential. After years of work, the game became a success—and the studio’s determination gave its wider universe room to grow.
