The ModRetro Chromatic made waves for a number of reasons when it launched last year, and rightly so. Representing a way to buy "new" Game Boy Color hardware in the modern era, it boasted super-accurate FPGA technology, a robust design and a great screen. The Chromatic quickly gained a lot of interest from the retro gaming community—and the fact that ModRetro was also going to be publishing a host of homebrew Game Boy titles to accompany the console only added to its appeal.
The Chromatic also earned plenty of praise from games media; I gave it a glowing 8/10 review, saying it was so good Nintendo itself probably couldn't have done a better job. I wasn't alone in this judgement; The Verge said it was "among the best ever made" in the field of aftermarket Game Boys, while GamesRadar called it "a remarkable modern Game Boy that'll outlive my original". GameSpot called it a "remarkable recreation" of Nintendo's original handheld, and Nintendo World Report said it was "the closest thing to perfection as you can get." Retro Dodo said it was "the perfect modernised Game Boy" in its review—and many other outlets were equally effusive in their praise.
There was one problem with all of this—ModRetro's founder, Palmer Luckey, happens to be one of the most divisive people in the worlds of tech and North American politics, as I quickly found out when my review of the handheld went live in November 2024.
As a British person, my exposure to Luckey had, up to that point, been somewhat limited; I knew he founded the trailblazing VR firm Oculus and, like pretty much everyone else, remembered cracking a smile at that unintentionally amusing "floating" Time magazine cover. I was also vaguely aware that his political leanings had ruffled some feathers in the past—but I wasn't conscious of just how much vitriol existed for the man until my review, which regrettably omitted any mention of his involvement with the product, went live (this has since been amended).
A little bit of digging after the review went up quickly revealed why he's such a polarising character. Luckey, who now runs military contractor Anduril Industries, has previously referred to himself as a "radical Zionist" and, in a 2024 interview, claimed that "societies have always needed a warrior class that is enthused and excited about enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims. You need people like me who are sick in that way and who don’t lose any sleep making tools of violence in order to preserve freedom." Er, yikes?
From a publishing perspective, I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience
Luckey also happens to be a guy who loves video games (he apparently has the world's most extensive video game collection, which is situated 200 feet underground in a former U.S. Air Force nuclear missile base), but his views and role as an arms dealer present problems; you need only look at the social media replies to any news item regarding Luckey or ModRetro to understand that there are plenty of people out there who want nothing more than a shiny new FPGA Game Boy, but are unwilling to line the pockets of someone who profits from conflict and espouses political views which are so out of line with their own.
But where does that leave the indie developers who have teamed up with ModRetro to publish their games in physical form? The console launched with games such as Toki Tori, Patchy Matchy, Tales of Monsterland DX and Traumatarium Penitent, as well as ModRetro's own version of Tetris—all of which are fully compatible with original Game Boy hardware as well as other clones, like the Analogue Pocket and FunnyPlaying's DIY FPGA Game Boy. Putting aside the involvement of Luckey for a moment, I was intrigued to learn what had been like working with ModRetro for these homebrew devs.
"From a publishing perspective, I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience," says Joel Jarman of Joel J Games, developer of Tales of Monsterland DX, a title which had previously been published by Bitmap Soft. "Everyone involved has been super responsive and great to work with."
Konstantinos C. Apostolakis, founder of Gortyn Code Games and developer of the excellent Chantey, is equally positive about the experience. "It became apparent to me from the very beginning that the people at ModRetro are really serious and passionate about the Chromatic, bringing retro games to the spotlight, and the Game Boy in general. Throughout my development journey, I was lucky to receive a great deal of support, encouragement and advice, not just from the ModRetro people, but the other ModRetro-signed devs as well, helping me navigate this unfamiliar landscape and towards a successful release."
Likewise, Tom Sutton of Malamute—the studio behind Patchy Matchy—has good things to report. "Working with ModRetro has actually been really easy. They were really clear about their expectations and provided support along the way. I was really happy with the product quality when I received the finished games, so I think they did a good job."
They work very hard to make sure you are looked after and feel connected to the whole process
Tom Lockwood, also known as Gumpy Function, is the artist and designer of the viral Game Boy Color title Grimace's Birthday and worked with ModRetro on In The Dark 2 with his long-time collaborator Bryan Taylor (Pearacidic). He also feels the experience of working with ModRetro has been productive. "They have done a great job of creating a network of enthusiastic playtesters to help polish games nearing the end of development and set up systems that make managing playtesting and the discussion surrounding it very efficient—something that I am not used to as a homebrew indie developer and was certainly not common a year or two ago. They work very hard to make sure you are looked after and feel connected to the whole process. All of this has done a lot to foster a healthy mini-community within the ModRetro bubble, and I think it's made the games better for it." Lockwood adds that ModRetro's "Let's Play" videos have done wonders when it comes to giving homebrew games coverage and exposure in what is a massively crowded marketplace.
That ModRetro is a well-run company packed with skilled and attentive staff is perhaps not surprising; Facebook paid $2 billion for Oculus in 2014, while Anduril's revenue for 2024—derived from unmanned combat drones and autonomous surveillance systems, amongst other things—was $1 billion. Luckey clearly has plenty of cash sloshing around to ensure that side hustles like ModRetro are "best in class" when it comes to doing what they do. It's also clear that he has an aptitude for creating successful businesses, given his track record since establishing Oculus way back in 2012 (coincidentally, ModRetro itself evolved from the gaming forum Luckey started with a friend in 2009).
Did Luckey's reputation give any of the developers reason to pause before deciding to work with ModRetro? NYC-based Romanian developer Horatiu Radoiu of Eligos Games (Traumatarium Penitent) pleads ignorance when it comes to the controversial entrepreneur. "I’m going to be completely honest and say I had no idea who he was, let alone anything about his past or reputation. So, it never had any influence on my decision."
I have two minds when I think of Palmer. The idea of being attached to the same person who co-founded the defence tech company Anduril is certainly an uncomfortable one
Sutton also admits to being a little in the dark about ModRetro's founder. "As a Canadian, I think I was honestly a little unaware of the whole conversation around him." British developer Jarman, meanwhile, feels that being a non-American rules him out of having the conversation. "I don’t think it’s my place to comment on someone else’s democracy—we’ve got plenty to deal with here in the UK. That said, I’ll happily debate (or bore) anyone with my views in person!"
Lockwood was somewhat more conflicted when it came to making the initial decision to work with ModRetro. "I have two minds when I think of Palmer," he explains. "The idea of being attached to the same person who co-founded the defence tech company Anduril is certainly an uncomfortable one. At the same time, I knew that with the founding of ModRetro and the eventual release of the Chromatic, ModRetro would be pushing Game Boy homebrew further into the mainstream, greatly expanding the opportunities for indie developers in the scene. Most importantly, ModRetro would help vastly increase the chances of Game Boy homebrew developers being able to financially support themselves or their families with a career in Game Boy homebrew development. This is no easy feat."
Ultimately, Lockwood explains that he decided to "separate any issues I have with Palmer Luckey and his company Anduril from ModRetro because ModRetro is not Anduril, and is filled with passionate people that are interested in sharing great Game Boy homebrew titles with lovers of all things 8-bit, and are helping hobbyist developers to realize their dreams and growing the scene in a positive way right when it was buckling under its own rate of growth."
The Australian developer even reveals that his game, In The Dark 2, references this moral dilemma. "Without wanting to spoil the story, it was partly inspired by my feelings towards this whole issue and explores the ethics of deferring an individual's responsibility to some higher authority—especially in wartime. We all must draw our own lines in the sand, as we all do when separating the art from some of the more 'troubled' artists in history. Speaking only for myself, this situation is not black and white, but I think it's important to realize that any ideological issue one might have with Palmer Luckey and his business dealings outside of ModRetro is very much indirectly linked to the people working at and with ModRetro. By all means, I welcome the discussion this scenario raises."
We all must draw our own lines in the sand, as we all do when separating the art from some of the more 'troubled' artists in history
I was also keen to hear if any of ModRetro's development partners had received hostile reactions online to their games being published by the company. Apostolakis says he hasn't had any negative feedback so far, and while others admit they have had some less-than-ideal reactions, none have been extreme enough to make them reconsider their connection with ModRetro.
"99.9% of feedback has been great," says Radoiu. "There is always one or two voices, and those end up being loudest, but outside of a few not-nice messages, everyone has been great, and the community at large seems to be enjoying these new releases."
Sutton says that he has "heard a couple of things" when asked about negative feedback from the community but feels that the Chromatic's intended function should exempt it from such scrutiny. "It's an entertainment product, and the goal is to have fun and make people happy, so I wouldn't expect anyone to partake if it didn't vibe with them for any reason."
Jarman reveals that he got a Direct Message from an individual who said they would be pirating his game due to his connection with ModRetro, but beyond that, "it’s mostly been people reaching out with kind words, encouragement, or asking for tips." He says he generally tries to "steer clear of politics and polarising debates" on his studio or retro games social accounts. "Social media doesn’t really allow for the kind of nuance those conversations need, so I keep that side of things separate."
Social media doesn’t really allow for the kind of nuance those conversations need, so I keep that side of things separate
In terms of blowback, Lockwood seems to be the one who has felt it the most. "Soon after the release of In The Dark 2, I had an Instagram user share images of Palmer Luckey standing next to some defence drones Anduril had produced. The person felt the need to publicly boycott ModRetro due to its association with Palmer and had @'d me in the Instagram story, calling me out for working with ModRetro. I felt pressured to defend my choices publicly—especially on social media where nuanced discussion is next to impossible—but I can understand why a person may have a very strong reaction to something so closely linked to very real wars. I did reach out to them to say I respect their right to share their point of view and to make sure they were heard."
Lockwood adds that he is "concerned" not only for the "well-being of the developers attached to ModRetro" but also "for the journalists who cover it," explaining that his neurodiversity (Lockwood has both ADHD and autism) makes him "especially sensitive to online toxicity". Lockwood adds that he is opposed to such toxicity in all forms, not just from those who take issue with Luckey. "I made 'Feed IT Souls', a jam game for GBC in response to Elon Musk buying Twitter and then pushing it further down the rabbit hole. I had no idea how much closer to reality my parody would be two years later. You can't stop social media toxicity, and it's easier for a company to ignore combative social media posts than a single person, such as the writer of an article or the developer of a game, because they are the ones managing their own public image and social media accounts."
The developer was so affected by the online reaction that he took it up with his publisher. "Thankfully, when I brought this to ModRetro's attention, we were able to discuss this on the main developer Discord server and hear the points of view of others. It helped to reduce the anxiety that I and others were feeling should there ever be some kind of targeted attack on specific people working with ModRetro online. I haven't heard of this happening since, but I have also stopped using social media—perhaps I will return to Instagram at some point, but who knows? In any case, it was comforting to be able to openly discuss these issues with ModRetro."
The person who has served as the main point of communication between developers I spoke to and ModRetro is Spacebot Interactive's Chris Beach, developer of the superb RPG Dragonyhm and Head of Publishing at ModRetro. "As a developer myself, I understand what it takes to build a solid relationship with our developers, as do the rest of the team, and I pride myself in us offering a very good service and support network," Beach tells us.
If anything, ModRetro over-delivered on the hardware side and their product quality is generally more spot-on than me piecing games together in my home
Regarding the reaction online to Luckey's involvement, Beach says it's a "shame" that people can't "separate their opinions about Palmer from what we're trying to do here at ModRetro." He echoes Lockwood's take on social media, saying that it "has become extremely toxic, and unfortunately, there are people that are looking for an excuse to spread their negative opinions." He adds that, as a developer himself, he hasn't felt any negative pressure beyond the "odd comment here and there on Dragonyhm posts, but that kind of thing usually comes with putting yourself out there anyway, whether the comments are targeting a specific person or not."
Clearly, the developers I spoke to all have good things to say about both Beach ("I wanted to get to do something with Chris, so jumped on his offer," says Radoiu) and Torin Herndon, ModRetro's CEO. This relationship seems to have done much to smooth over any issues developers have faced—and perhaps help tackle any moral conflict they might feel from having their game associated with an arms dealer.
"Chris ran point and was my primary contact at the company," explains Sutton. "Torin, the marketing team, and the support group were all pleasant to communicate with, and the timelines were all reasonable, and we hit all our signposts. I was really happy with the quality of the product when I received the finished games, so I think they did a good job. If anything, ModRetro over-delivered on the hardware side and their product quality is generally more spot-on than me piecing games together in my home."
Jarman adds that his experience working with ModRetro is ultimately what matters the most to him. "Everyone I’ve worked with at ModRetro—across a wide mix of countries and backgrounds—has been thoughtful, inclusive, and supportive," he says. "The other developers involved are also great. New Game Boys, supporting indie developers, and bringing fresh people into the indie retro gaming scene... that can only be a good thing."
While this onion has some layers, for me personally, it's best to focus on all the good ModRetro is providing to the community rather than the person who happened to found it
Pretty much all of the developers I interviewed also said they'd be open to working with ModRetro in the future, and Jarman reveals that Tales of Monsterland DX has "done better than I expected. As a solo dev making games for a thirty-year-old console, I don’t expect to make back the time I put in—my main goal is just to cover expenses. That’s been taken care of, and it’s a big help towards making sure my next game is the best it can be."
Even Lockwood, who has experienced perhaps the most extreme reaction as a result of working with ModRetro, is keen to keep the relationship going. "ModRetro has done a great deal of effective marketing far beyond what I thought was possible relative to, say, a year ago, and even placed In The Dark 2 in GameStop store shelves across America, alongside modern consoles," he comments. "As I suspected and hoped for, ModRetro has done a significant amount to expand the Game Boy homebrew landscape for everyone involved. So, while this onion has some layers, for me personally, it's best to focus on all the good ModRetro is providing to the community rather than the person who happened to found it. After all, if we started boycotting every company based on whether or not we agreed with every ideal and action made by its founder or CEO, the entire world economy would collapse in a month."
There's no denying that by releasing an excellent product and supporting homebrew Game Boy developers, ModRetro is doing a lot of good for the community. However, while developers seem able to look beyond Luckey's involvement, it clearly remains an insurmountable barrier for many consumers—and when you take into account that the Chromatic isn't the only option out there if you're looking for an FPGA-based Game Boy console in 2025, choosing to snub it is an easy decision to make.
Current events prove even superb products aren't exempt from a backlash when the people involved become troublesome or divisive. There are people who will tell you that a Tesla is the ultimate automobile, but that hasn't stopped the company's share price from tanking as owners ditch their electric cars in droves due to the erratic behaviour of company CEO Elon Musk. The Chromatic being exceptional clearly isn't enough for some people when the individual who benefits the most from its success has views which are the polar opposite of theirs.
The perennially thorny issue of separating "the art from the artist" is clearly not a simple matter for many consumers, and that's unlikely to change—especially in the modern age when the ethics and morality of business owners are rightly placed under tighter scrutiny than ever before.