The Swindle was released this week to reasonable reviews and moderate acclaim. It’s the latest game from Size Five, Dan Marshall’s development studio previously of Gun Monkeys and twin adventure-games-done-right Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please. In a pair of tweets today, Dan confirmed that a new game in that series would be developed if The Swindle did well enough. He followed it up later with one stating that it had already made back its 18 month development costs.
A new Dan and Ben will absolutely happen if The Swindle sells well. I'd love to make it, but need the financial security first.
— Dan Marshall (@danthat) July 30, 2015
Dan explained that the reason for this was that adventure games can be difficult to sell and he doesn’t believe he could get the game released on consoles due to the content. The financial buffer would help to create the carefree environment that fostered the first two games.
The Swindle just made its development budget back (on Steam, no idea about PSN sales yet). Thanks everyone!
— Dan Marshall (@danthat) July 30, 2015
After this, Dan pointed out he was talking about the pure staff costs over the last 18 months, not the various cancelled prototypes before then or any hardware costs. Still, as a responder put it, worthy of celebration. There are no guarantees of course, but with the press the game has gotten and its likely place in upcoming Steam sales, it should make a hefty wad before long.
We’ve not reviewed it but The Swindle is sitting with a Mostly Positive rating on Steam which at least means it isn’t horrifyingly broken or crap, in my experience. Treat it with the same ocean-worth of salt you would a metacritic user score, mind.You can grab it for £10.19 at a special discounted launch price.