Brace yourself folks, it's the big one! Lawn Mowing Simulator will be with us in less than a week on Tuesday, August 10, and we've had a chance to track down the game's lead producer for a chat ahead of launch.
The game has been receiving loads of attention in recent weeks following a very successful demo as part of the Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo event, and so we took the opportunity to question Michael Davies (lead producer) about this, as well as what it was like working with the Xbox Series X and S, and whether Xbox Game Pass is on the cards...
Pure Xbox: Hello! Could you give us a quick introduction and your role on Lawn Mowing Simulator?
Michael Davies: Hello! I’m Michael Davies, Lead Producer on Lawn Mowing Simulator.
Pure Xbox: In a nutshell, what can we expect from Lawn Mowing Simulator?
Michael: In a nutshell, we want Lawn Mowing Simulator to be the most realistic lawn-mowing experience available! You can expect a relaxing, accurate portrayal of lawn mowing in the Great British countryside.
Pure Xbox: Where did the idea of a Lawn Mowing Simulator come from? Any inspirations?
Michael: One of Skyhook’s founders was in his local park one day, and there was someone on a lawnmower mowing the grass in the park. He thought to himself ‘Wow, I bet they need to mow efficiently and to a high standard before they move on to their next job’ - and before you know it, Lawn Mowing Simulator was born!
Pure Xbox: How in-depth is the gameplay? Is it targeted at beginners, veterans or both?
Michael: We’re definitely targeting both. We hope that the game is easy for people who have never enjoyed simulation games before to pick up and start mowing, whilst at the same time the features like striping, attachments and different styles of mower add depth and variation for veterans.
Pure Xbox: In regards to Career Mode, what can players expect?
Michael: Career mode is our business sim part of the game - you start off with a small amount of funds to purchase your first mower, and must complete mowing contracts and improve your reputation in your local area as you go. In time, you can upgrade your garage, purchase new mowers and attachments, and unlock the opportunity to embark on more and more prestigious cutting contracts.
Pure Xbox: Your game was a highlight of the Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo Event. How did that go for you?
Michael: Thank you! It went absolutely brilliantly. The community has been fantastic in their support and with sharing feedback on our Discord server - we’ve been blown away by the positive sentiment and have integrated the community into our feedback and improvement loop as we make the game as good as it can possibly be for launch and beyond.
Pure Xbox: A lot of people have expressed surprise at how therapeutic the game is, even if they're not keen on mowing their lawns in real life! What are your thoughts on this?
Davies: I’m not surprised! Lawn Mowing Simulator is very much the chocolate-box version of lawn-mowing, in that it’s mowing at its absolute best - no allergies or grass stains to wash after you’ve finished mowing. Mowing a lawn well and efficiently is something I still find really pleasing and satisfying, so I’m happy but not completely surprised that others agree.
Pure Xbox: How did you find working with the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles during development?
Michael: I’m fortunate in that the programmers at Skyhook are extremely experienced and have delivered a great game on Series X and S - our experience developing for these consoles was excellent. They’re both great pieces of hardware in their own right and I’m really happy with how LMS looks and plays on both!
Pure Xbox: Have there been any discussions about bringing Lawn Mowing Simulator to Xbox Game Pass? If not, would you be interested?
Michael: Xbox Game Pass has been absolutely incredible for gamers and developers alike - it’s enabled way more people to play way more games. We aren’t ruling anything out, but we’ve got no plans for Game Pass right now.
Pure Xbox: Is there anything else you want to tell us about Lawn Mowing Simulator? Any final words to fans?
Michael: I really just want to thank all the manufacturers and everyone in the lawncare industry who have helped us with advice and their expertise in allowing us to get to this point. Also, a massive shout out to everyone in our Discord server who have been so supportive and really have helped [turn] the game into what it is. Hopefully everyone has just as much fun playing it as Skyhook have had making it!
We'd like to thank Michael for taking the time to talk to us. Lawn Mowing Simulator launches August 10 for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (yes, it's a next-gen console exclusive!), and will be available for £24.99 / $29.99.
Comments 7
Well....this is a thing and it exists. Feels like it should be a chapter in David Cage's next game.
Not gonna' lie, though, if it were on Game Pass with cloud streaming support.....I'd try it, even if just once.....just to see what those mowers that are deafening and shouldn't even be permitted in residential areas that I have to deal with IRL are all about. They have to have a weak point for massive damage.
@BlueOcean is holding out for Leaf Blower Simulator, right?
Not a game for me but I know plenty of people that love mowing their grass because it's peaceful.
Day One Purchase for me. I loved the demo and will gladly pay for this next week.
I'm glad it's not coming to Game Pass. The developer will not make any money allowing for it to be free. MS would have to pay them tens of millions to make up for lost sales revenue. Only a handful of people would buy the game after trying it on Game Pass. Maybe MS could make deal for several millions in a year or two. Developers need to be paid their not Billion dollar companies like MS who can afford to give their games away for free.
Why do gamers always feel that every game should go to Game Pass? Do they think the small developers and their families want to starve? Sadly their are many (not all) Xbox gamers who don't care they are selfish and insist all games should come to Game Pass. I have Ultimate Game Pass but I rarely use I got it dirt cheap on Black Friday and before that I paid $1 for it. No developer is making money off of $1.
Sorry just went on a little rant about Game Pass. It's nice for some people who can't afford to buy new games, but it isn't good for small and medium developers to make money unless MS will pay them up front tens of millions to make up for development cost.
@GrafUlrich88 Nothing wrong with being interested in this game, I'm sure it has its audience, and can make development (and all that licensing) profitable, hopefully. But "tens of millions?" If Skyhook spent 1/3 the budget of TLoU2 on a lawn mower simulator, they're simply bad at business. And I doubt the Toro licensing is quite as pricey as Mercedes...
Skyhook/Curve may well have decided GP isn't worth perusing for this title for whatever their reasons may be, and there are certainly plenty, but many small devs have seen tremendous success as a result of Game Pass and praised it quite a lot. There's no blanket "small devs can't afford Game Pass / Microsoft is giving away free stuff" to be had out of that. I expect that sentiment over on Push Square because it's "teh enemy", but there's many avenues by which GP is both very profitable for MS and for small devs that engage with it. Even if Skyhook and Curve have decided it's not the right approach for their game (and/or believe they wouldn't be chosen to participate, especially with Farming Simulator already there. You can't just choose to have your game on it, it has to be selected as part of the curated library, of course.)
@SplooshDmg I'm really hoping for Office Worker Simulator 2022 feat. Clippy. It's really just an Office 365 subscription bundled with Game Pass, but nobody needs to know that.
@NEStalgia There is a The Simpsons episode when Bart and Lisa want to play a lawn mowing simulator instead of helping their parents to mow the lawn.
@GrafUlrich88 I've heard MS offers for Game Pass can be quite handsome. Give the dev a large chunk of money up front to guarantee a certain amount of success. Dev gets paid well, more gamers play the game and spread the word. Game leaves game pass down the road, players then pay for the game and continue feeding sales to the dev. It's quite simple and a lot of devs seem to be happy with the deals.
I always HATED having to mow the lawn as a kid, but I have to admit it was strangely satisfying seeing the results of a nice line spiraling all the way to the middle, and looking at my work afterwards. I'll definitely check this out. Is there a demo anywhere?
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