Campo Santo have announced that wander-around and chat-to-Delilah simulator Firewatch has done rather well. Released just a few weeks ago, it has already surpassed their “wildest expectations” as far as sales go, and they say they’ll be around for some time to come thanks to it.
Here’s what Phil thought in his Firewatch review.
The reveal was made on Twitter last night, when their official account tweeted these:
Firewatch has out-sold our wildest expectations. Campo Santo is going to be around for a while and we can't wait to make whatever is next.
— Campo Santo (@camposanto) February 24, 2016
Thank you to everyone who has made that statement possible!
— Campo Santo (@camposanto) February 24, 2016
No official numbers were released, but a quick glance at SteamSpy would suggest it’s heading with haste towards 200k sales, and often that service is a low-ball estimate at best. Even if the majority were at the $18 pre-order price, and after Valve’s 30% cut, that’s still a cool 2.5 million dollars for a relatively small team of folks. Remember that the game also had a fairly massive push on PS4 where, if anything, sales were likely even higher.
It’s good news for those that were worried the game’s relative shortness and comparitively large pricetag would hold it back. It’s probably not final proof that you can charge whatever you like for an indie game and it will sell, since Firewatch had some big names, press and marketing behind it for a longer time than most, but it is good to know that people will pay more for smaller games if you can convince them it’s worth it. Making a good game is a part of that.