Frictional Games--Reanimating

Recettear sold well. Minecraft has become such a strong force in both sales and among my friends that I have purposely avoided it due to already being tied up in some very time-demanding games. Now we can add Frictional Games' recent Amnesia: The Dark Descent to the list of indie titles faring quite well for themselves this year. Direct from their own blog post on the subject matter:

So, with one month of data to analyze, how did things go? I think it can be summed up with: Better than expected on all accounts! As of today we have sold a total of 36,000 units (including pre-orders, but excluding boxed sales in Russia), and our goal, which would determine if we would continue or not, [was] 24,000. Having met and exceeded that goal already feels quite nice. Frictional Games will live to create another game!

Their analysis continues, noting that 41% of their sales were through pre-sale orders, which means they wish to pay more attention to such in the future. Not surprisingly, most of the sales were for the Windows platform, though they have not insignificant percentages in both the Mac and Linux purchases.

They do seem pleased with how the media has responded, and among the positive reviews was our very own NaviFairy's. They envision that reviews for their particular game will have a longer-term effect, seeing as it helps spread word of mouth and gain them notice by not just a possible audience, but other publications and outlets. This would be in contrast with a larger title, where I believe many read a review to confirm expectations and/or concerns.

As with any indie PC title, the concern of piracy peeks its head forth, and as many small dev teams note, they wish to give the players more options, but also contemplate how to entice a pirate to actually become a purchaser. Here they draw on comparisons with Minecraft, which is a work in progress and offers updates. Since they are focused on single-player, however, they wonder if they can be as effective without deliberately holding back parts of the game to release later (which they admit to wanting to avoid at all costs--it feels cheap). The option on which they seem to want to settle is looking into more platforms through which to release their games.

In good news, they feel they are finished with Amnesia and ready to move forward to their next project. Of note is that it will be the first game they will be able to fund themselves. They do discuss financial information a bit, including how they have put themselves through minimum wage to release their game, and may have to do so again in the future, but they are dedicated to their vision. As I am playing Amnesia bit by bit (first game in a long time to actually frighten me, and first time it's been the entire game and not just a segment), I wish them much luck in continuing what I consider brilliant work.