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Comment on 9 months after its 1.0 launch flopped, an indie dev just learned that Steam never emailed the 130,000 people who wishlisted its game

Stamets@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Said this on /c/gaming as well but

I have no doubt that this bug played a part in their sales… However… The game was in early access for a decade before it actually released in 1.0. This was the 1.0 change log:

Changelog 1.0.0 - 12 december 2024

Adds:

Guidance system: uses the completion tree to display objectives and help the player to progress. The guidance system can be disabled in Game options.

Option to change the direction only when moving with the keyboard (player is not facing automatically the mouse)

Changes:

Quests and dialogs with the crystal have been removed and replaced by the guidance system

Worm transformation is always visible

Various bugs fixed

So to be honest, I’m not entirely sure that that launch was much of a launch to begin with… While the bug definitely had a part to play, I’m not sure this would have sold anything in the first place. It’s a terraria clone that was dragged through early access for a decade before launching in a way that doesn’t actually feel like a launch.

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Pyro@programming.dev ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Many devs will incrementally update the early-access versions to be close to 1.0 before release. 1.0 doesn’t have to be a massive update, it just signifies the point when the devs think the game is complete.

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- Stamets@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This was not one of those situations though. Every reddit thread talking about this game has a ton of people who were playing at the time or after launch and all saying that it’s just a poorly done game.
  
  I got it when it came out and tbh… it’s just not very good. I think a big reason games in the indie world become well sold is because of positive word of mouth (Balatro, slay the spire, vampire survivors etc) and this one was just… not good. I wouldnt recommend it personally. Source
  
  That whole thread is filled with people talking about the state of the game before launch of 1.0 as well as the launch. Also some very good points about the weakness of their financial choices if they ended up broke at the launch of 1.0.
  
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minimalfootprint@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
While I agree that the changes for 1.0 don’t look like enough to make it a full release, a lot of gamers categorically refuse to buy a game in early access and wait for the 1.0 release for the “full experience”. Nobody can say how many sales would have been generated.

Valve offers somewhat high visibility for a very short time as compensation. That doesn’t cost them anything and is very disappointing. Refund of some of the paid fees, or a discount for the players out of Valve’s pocket doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.

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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  That doesn’t cost them anything
  
  It’s an opportunity cost. What other games would have otherwise shown? If the game isn’t appealing, that’s poor use of ad space and could result in lost sales for another game that would then in its place.
  
  I think it’s the right thing to do, though perhaps the window should’ve been longer, like 3 days. But saying it costs nothing isn’t accurate.
  
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- echodot@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah but this game was in early access for a decade. A decade. That’s giving me star citizen vibes, except in this case the game wasn’t popular.
  
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- Tonava@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  [deleted]
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  - Rekorse@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Early access works when it means the developer wants to craft the game around player input. Satisfactory is a good example, baldurs gate 3 is another.
    
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chisel@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
No, you’re wrong. Every wishlist is a guaranteed sale on launch day. When people see that number tick from 0.5937.5 to 1.0, they can’t help themselves. The trick is, they have to see it on launch day in an automated email. Otherwise the sale is lost for good. Literally every true gamer knows this.

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- SkyezOpen@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Hmm, I’m not convinced. Do it in a deep voice while you draw boxes in ms paint and maybe I’ll believe you.
  
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- Mangoholic@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  No a wishlist is not a guaranted sale. We had 213 wishlist and 12 sales on launch.
  
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  - Goodeye8@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I think the other guy was being sarcastic.
    
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  - Tenkard@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That’s around 5%, assuming the same performance for 130k it’s 6500 copies
    
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  - njm1314@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Do you think your game would have sold better if you were better at picking up on sarcasm?
    
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    reksas@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    clearly that is the reason the game flopped
    
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Aatube@kbin.melroy.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
to be fair, save for the length of time in dev (feature creep?) that is how early access was supposed tow ork

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- Stamets@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I would agree if not for this. This is a list of all of the things that they promised in early access that they would add to the full game. Guess how many of these things are there?
  
  How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? Here is the list of the features that we still need to implement:
  
  Themed dungeons | Biomes: post-hell | Biomes: sky | Technology | Vehicles & Mechs Grapple hook / ninja rope | Modding compatibility | God Saucer (minigames area) Tower of 100 challenges | Themed parallel dimensions | Fluid dynamics Biomes: oceans | Fishing | Programmable robots | Wiring | Pipes | Thunder Fire (buildings can catch on fire etc.) | Achievements / Game encyclopedia / Compendium Temperature | Gas dynamics | Dynamic buildings (build your ship)
  
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