Hi everyone!
Today, we want to do something a little different. No patch notes, no feature announcements, but a deep dive behind the scenes into our stats.
And spoiler alert: The numbers are beyond our wildest expectations.
It's official: we have just crossed the 44,000 wishlists mark. (Sorry, it happened so fast we missed the exact moment to celebrate 40k!)
For an indie studio, this is a huge symbolic number. Why? Because thanks to your massive support, we have just entered the TOP 1000 Most Anticipated Games on Steam (Global Rank).
With tens of thousands of games currently in development on the platform, being in the top 1000 is an incredible validation of our hard work. It gives us crucial visibility for the upcoming launch.
To our fellow devs: We know how hard this ranking is to reach. If you have any questions about our marketing strategy or what worked for us, don't hesitate to ask in the comments!
Here is a breakdown of the different wishlist spikes we’ve experienced so far:
This is where the numbers get really interesting (and a little crazy). We launched the demo hoping for some feedback, but the response was massive.
Here is the raw data:
Players: Over 25,000 people have played the demo.
Median Playtime: 1 hour and 20 minutes.
To put that last figure in perspective: the Steam average for a demo in our genre is often much lower.
1% of players spent more than 20 HOURS on the demo.
Yes, 20 hours. On a demo. To you, the "1%": you are absolute legends. Thank you for playing the game inside out (and finding bugs for us to fix!), it is the best possible motivation for the team.
In the video game industry, there is a tendency to hide numbers, whether out of fear of failure or false modesty.
When we started, we struggled to find reliable data on other developers' stats. Now that we have our own, we want to break this cycle by publishing them:
To thank you: These numbers aren't ours, they are yours. Every wishlist, every hour played is thanks to you.
To provide visibility for other indies: It is hard to find reliable data on the success (or failure) of games in our genre. If these numbers can help another dev pitch their game or compare their stats, then this post will have served its purpose.
These numbers put a "positive pressure" on us: we must deliver a game worthy of these expectations. We are currently working on the final major features and bringing all the game elements together.
It's the best way to support us and help us aim for the Top 500!
Thank you for being the best community we could hope for.
Merry Christmas everyone, see you next year!
The 410 Studio Team