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Rarykos
Hitchhiker, game developer, adventurer. Come for the emotional roller-coaster, stay for the bridge burning!

Age 32, Male

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Poland

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Released on Steam my first REAL game! Sharing sales data for all to see...

Posted by Rarykos - November 4th, 2019


The day is here! Mars Power Industries is done.


Took 2 years to get to this point, to make a playable puzzle game and an expanded deluxe edition for Steam. I said I'd share some numbers so here we are.

Over the last year since release this is what Mars earned on mobile:

iu_66728_2424249.png

This is what the sales are on Google Play. A little over $1k over the year.


iu_66729_2424249.png

This is for Apple. We got featured a couple of times and got Game of the Day. And because of this human curation we earned 17 time more than on Google Play.


When we're talking about expectations for Steam....

iu_66730_2424249.png


This is what 600 wishlists look like, that means Mars should sell 300 copies in the first week and 2400 copies over the first year. Pretty humble. But in all these cases the amount of work that goes is way over the result. Sometimes you get lucky and get featured, but usually the effort is a dud.

For context, all these numbers are to be split 4-ways. So for me, for designing, scoring and leading the team, I'll get $5k. For 2 years of work. And it is unpredictable, annoying work very often that makes you work late in the night.


Okay, so much for complaining!

I hope you enjoy the game and you can check out the DELUXE edition here on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/977230/Mars_Power_Industries_Deluxe/


Perhaps I could completely sell out and promote the Switch version done by another publisher based on our game, but honestly, I can't give their version my seal of approval. Sometimes you get a good deal from a publisher and sometimes the publisher is an amateurish irresponsible prick. I just think it needs to be said. Too many people shy away from saying the truth, in case somebody gets insulted and a bridge in the industry might be burned, but screw that! :<


If you have any questions, I'm all ears, although I'm going on holidays with my family now to finally RELAX!


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Comments

Always interesting to see such numbers! But it is a shame. Made similar experiences with app development, but at lest, there was a continuity in my sales. Your sales look like a sweat-rollercoaster. You earned the relaxation time. It is sometimes like a lottery.

Congrats on the launch!

Thank you so much! :)

Interesting insight, thanks for sharing your numbers!

Pozdravujem zo slovenska :D

Did you think of trying for an Epic Store exclusive deal, if accepted, your game would succeed regardless of sales.

I thought about that, same with humble store or kartridge. They told me they reach out first. So they themselves must see the game somewhere. See twitter going crazy for this game and then you get the offer $200k for exclusivity.

It's kinda like this new apple arcade initiative. They fund indie darlings from indie celebrities. They fund what would've sold well already. They're not interested in risk, new people or new games.