Skip to content
Toby Fox avatar

Toby Fox

Creator and composer of Undertale and Deltarune

About Toby Fox

Toby Fox is an American game developer and composer from Manchester, New Hampshire, best known for Undertale and Deltarune. He got his start making EarthBound ROM hacks as a teenager and composing music for the webcomic Homestuck, and conceived Undertale while studying at Northeastern University in Boston.

In 2013 he ran a Kickstarter for Undertale with a $5,000 goal and raised more than $51,000. Released in September 2015, the game was made almost entirely by Fox, with Temmie Chang as lead artist, and became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its humour, memorable soundtrack and system that lets players spare every enemy. It sold over a million copies within months of launch.

Since 2018 he has been releasing Deltarune, a parallel story told in chapters, with a small team. Chapters 3 and 4 launched together as a paid release in June 2025. Alongside his own games, Fox has contributed music to Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and Undertale's 10th-anniversary charity livestream in 2025 raised more than $360,000 for Médecins Sans Frontières.

Products by Toby Fox

Undertale logo

Undertale

undertale.com

RPG where players can befriend or spare every monster instead of fighting, known for its humour and soundtrack.

Deltarune logo

Deltarune

deltarune.com

Chapter-based RPG set in a parallel world to Undertale, released episodically since 2018.

Toby Fox's journey, 2013–20255 milestones · self-reported
  • First product
  • Funding
  • Launch / milestone
  • Started 2013
  1. 2013Funding: Raised $51K on Kickstarter for Undertale
  2. 2015First product: Released Undertale, which sold over a million copies within…
  3. 2018Launch: Released Deltarune Chapter 1 for free
  4. 2021Launch: Released Deltarune Chapter 2
  5. 2025Launch: Launched Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 as a paid release and…

Timeline

  1. 2013 — Raised $51,124 on Kickstarter for Undertale against a $5,000 goal.
  2. 2015 — Released Undertale, which sold over a million copies within months.
  3. 2018 — Released Deltarune Chapter 1 for free.
  4. 2021 — Released Deltarune Chapter 2.
  5. 2025 — Launched Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 as a paid release and held a 10th-anniversary charity stream for Undertale.

How Toby builds

  • Subvert genre conventions to give players meaningful choices.
  • Treat music as a core part of the game's identity.
  • Keep the team tiny and take as long as the game needs.

Toby Fox FAQ

Who made Undertale?

Undertale was created by Toby Fox, who handled design, programming, writing and music, with Temmie Chang as lead artist. It was released in September 2015.

How was Undertale funded?

Toby Fox raised $51,124 from 2,398 backers on Kickstarter in 2013, far exceeding his $5,000 goal.

Is Deltarune finished?

Deltarune is being released in chapters; Chapters 3 and 4 came out in June 2025, with further chapters planned.

Similar indie makers

Derek Yu avatar

Derek Yu

@mossmouth United States59K followers

Indie game designer behind Spelunky, Spelunky 2 and UFO 50, founder of Mossmouth

Spelunky, Spelunky 2, UFO 50 +3

Jonathan Blow avatar

Jonathan Blow

@Jonathan_Blow United States160K followers

Designer of Braid and The Witness, creator of the Jai language, head of Thekla

Braid, The Witness, Order of the Sinking Star +2

Eric Barone avatar

Eric Barone

@ConcernedApe United States1.4M followers

Solo developer of Stardew Valley, now making Haunted Chocolatier

Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier

Billy Basso avatar

Billy Basso

@Billy_Basso United States15K followers

Chicago solo developer who spent seven years building the hit Metroidvania Animal Well

Animal Well

Adam Lyttle avatar

Adam Lyttle

@adamlyttleapps Australia59K followers

Australian indie dev running a portfolio of 30+ simple iOS apps

Card Value Scanner for Pokemon, Swipe the cat, PIANORUN +3$70K/mo

Jonas Tyroller avatar

Jonas Tyroller

@JonasTyroller Germany23K followers

German indie dev and YouTuber behind Islanders, Will You Snail? and Thronefall

Thronefall, Will You Snail?, Islanders +1