Game Dev

Dev did everything right, still failed

Finding success in game dev is really tough. You can try your hardest to make the best game you can make and market it effectively and in the end you can still fail.

Here is an interesting discussion on that topic. The game in question is called Bionic Bay, it's a gorgeous looking game and it did have a bunch of viral posts on Twitter/Reddit/TikTok which lead to it launching with about 60k wishlists. In about 2 weeks the game currently has 208 reviews, they are at 91% positive which is an excellent score.

It seems like the game did everything right, the game is very high quality with great art direction and interesting mechanics, and clearly they had a marketing plan that they put into action very very successfully.

However those review numbers would imply about 208 * 40 = 8320 copies sold which at a $20 price point would equal about $166,400 gross revenue which after Steam's cut, Taxes, Publisher's cut, other things, would likely end up with about $50k profit. That sounds like a decent amount but also seems low considering the quality of the game. It was made by 3 people across 4 years which would equal $4k per year per person, that’s definitely very low.

So despite being a very well made game with great marketing, it appears to have underperformed. As to why this happened and how you can avoid this happening to you? Everyone has different theories but I would say mainly it's the genre. Puzzle Platformers are very tricky to sell well, for every Hollow Knight you have hundreds (or thousands) or other Puzzle Platformers that sell almost 0.

The genre/idea that you pick is the first giant filter that defines how well the game can do. That's why lately I've been recommending the Simulator genre because the games aren't super hard to make and there is a massive audience that loves them. Another great genre is Horror which is also relatively easy to build and also has a massive audience.

So my practical advice to you is to NOT just jump into the first idea that comes to your head, but rather do some market research to see if your idea is viable in the market. Some genres are clearly much easier or harder than others. But at the same time this advice only applies to people trying to make financially successful games, if you're a hobbyist making games for fun then you can ignore market research.

The game was also launched on consoles and there Platformers usually tend to do better than on Steam to perhaps the game might still do somewhat well over the long run.

Affiliate

Spring Sale Ends SOON! 99% OFF Bundle!

Spring is here and with it comes the Unity Spring Sale! The top assets are 50% OFF and there are Daily FLASH DEALS at 70% OFF!

I’ve done Asset Reviews on a bunch of the top assets that I really recommend, things like A* Pathfinding Project, Odin Inspector, FEEL, Text Animator, etc.

Browse the entire sale HERE and see all the Flash Deals every single day, don’t miss them!

It’s ENDING in just 3 days! So if there’s anything you want get it quickly!

The Publisher of the Week this time is CraftPix, publisher with giant icon packs.

Get the FREE 4416 RPG Icons Pixel Art which is a giant package with thousands of icons.

Get it HERE and use coupon CRAFTPIX2025 at checkout to get it for FREE!

Need gorgeous Environments and VFX? There’s an excellent bundle right now at 99% OFF!

Includes tons of unique realistic environments, and some gorgeous VFX packs.

Importantly is how these assets have never been bundled before, so chances are you don’t have them and you can get a great deal.

Get it HERE!

Tech

Apple struck down in court by Epic

The giant Apple vs Epic battle that has been going on in the courts for the past few years has reached a new point. A judge has ruled that Apple can no longer collect fees on purchases made outside the App Store (in the US). Meaning you can now have your game on the App Store and have a Buy Button that leads players to buying your game on your own website (not through Apple) without having to pay Apple 30%, big news! One Apple executive was also accused of lying under oath.

Due to this ruling, Tim Sweeney has posted on Twitter that Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store next week, although it remains to be seen if that will happen considering how Apple themselves banned Epic's developer account and the judge did not rule they needed to be unbanned. He also put forth a peace proposal, if Apple enforces these rules worldwide (instead of just US) then Epic will drop all lawsuits.

Gaming

GTA6 Delayed to 2026!

One of the most anticipated games of all time, Grand Theft Auto VI, has just been delayed from its previous release date of Fall 2025 onto May 26, 2026.

This is likely some "good" news for many developers in the industry considering how many of them were terrified to set release dates at the end of this year because GTA6 might suddenly launch in the same week. Now those devs can safely set their release dates. You will definitely see a wave of release date announcements in the coming weeks.

When the game comes out it will likely be the biggest entertainment release of all time, just like GTA5 was. That one was the fastest piece of media to make $1 BILLION in just 3 days! It went on to sell over 150 million copies, so the expectations for GTA6 are sky high, but the devs behind it are extremely good so this might be a case of sky high expectations that are actually matched, we'll see!

Also this game is basically expected to give the industry as a whole a huge boost, many analysts expect millions of people to pick up consoles just for GTA6, which will then lead to some of those people picking up other games and boost the whole industry.

Fun

You wouldn't steal a FONT!

Do you remember that famous anti-piracy video from the early 2000's that went: "You wouldn't steal a car?"

Well it turns out the MPAA used a pirated font in their own anti-piracy add, ironic.

The original font in question is called FF Confidential, designed by Just van Rossum in 1992, which was ripped off into a font called XBand Rough and that is indeed what they used in the infamous video.

Fun Fact: The guy who made this font is the brother of the creator of the Python language!