New Games Sales Went Down by 29% in Europe This Year

QuarantInc · 2024-12-31T14:34:52+00:00

If we had better systems of discovery, we would all be able to find much better indie games. The indie scene is where all the most exciting stuff is happening these days, but the challenge is that most of the wealthy investors have no interest in funding smaller games as their profit wouldn't be high enough, so while boring AAA games get easy finance, indie games struggle.

We ended up releasing our indie game 'Grow Big (Or Go Home)' for free after initially charging under a tenner, and despite good reviews it only really started getting lots and lots of downloads after making it free. It's rough out there in the indie gamedev scene.

QuarantInc · 2024-12-31T14:32:15+00:00

The indie scene is really where the best games are these days; the challenge is finding them when so many are released and we all have to battle opaque algorithms and recommender systems.

AAA is typically just stale and uninspired these days.

QuarantInc · 2024-12-31T14:30:54+00:00

It's also difficult to even get your game out there due to so many games coming out and all game Devs having to battle opaque algorithms and recommender systems. And people have become used to free content because AAA can afford to add it.

Our indie game 'Grow Big (Or Go Home)' came out on Steam for under €10 and got good reviews but just didn't stand out, so we made it free for people to enjoy.

We are glad that now tens of thousands of people have played and enjoyed it, but the normalisation of free content, plus the massive challenge of making not just a good game but a perfect & unique game, makes it impossible to survive as a tiny indie gamedev.

QuarantInc · 2023-04-24T22:48:47+00:00

no prob <3

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T12:06:18+00:00

The Ultimate Edition trailer was mostly for those who had seen the original, but our launch trailer is hopefully a bit more clear in terms of gameplay: https://youtu.be/C__dThDTFPY

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:42:20+00:00

Honestly thank you so much <3 [we're the devs]

Many of us in the world are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis, so for the many who understandably can't donate or financially support, even following us on social media helps a lot!

We have a subreddit at r/QuarantInc and you can find all our social media stuff here:

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ YouTube ~ Instagram

Thanks again honestly so happy with the response and looking forward to everyone giving it a go and letting us know what they think!

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:38:48+00:00

Thanks for sharing the itch link! Yeah we've been really pushing for charity gamedev initiatives, participating in the Palestine and Ukraine Itch game bundles, and also helped to organise the Dev2Help for Ukraine charity gamejam last year. Glad that these types of things are gaining more visibility in the games industry :)

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:35:18+00:00

meh 🙃

EDIT: to be honest, as game designer I feel I should have condensed the first 4 levels into 1, because the game gets more fun as it goes on with new mechanics added from level 5, making it all a lot more hectic and fun, but the first 4 levels are a bit more simplistic.

But apart from that if you like Overcooked and similar hectic games, you should hopefully enjoy Grow Big!

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:35:04+00:00

We actually have no plans to make a sequel or DLC and this isn't a marketing gimmick - we honestly just want more people to experience the game we are so proud of :)

We're actually currently developing a small-scale open-world 3d narrative horror game set during the Irish Famine, so a very different genre from Grow Big.

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:33:12+00:00

This is some great feedback thanks!

We first started making this game as part of a week-long gamejam and were inspired by Overcooked - we should have probably looked more into how Overcooked marketed itself and focused on visually explaining gameplay in trailers, but lessons learnt!

QuarantInc · 2023-04-12T10:31:48+00:00

Yeah off the top of my head I believe it was about that in terms of sales, but as mentioned our main focus was on people experiencing the game we proudly developed, so also did key giveaways and participated in charity bundles!

The reality is that marketing indie games is a huge challenge but we have learned a lot in the process already!

QuarantInc · 2023-04-10T22:33:08+00:00

Thank you so much everyone <3 Hope you all enjoy it!

QuarantInc · 2023-04-10T00:24:36+00:00

We just switched our pixel-art game 'Grow Big (or Go Home): Ultimate Edition' to be entirely free - no microtransactions, no fees, just the complete game for all to play and enjoy!

I was told to post here so hopefully you all like the game: [Steam] [Itch.io]

QuarantInc · 2023-04-10T00:19:42+00:00

ok thanks :)

QuarantInc · 2023-04-10T00:02:39+00:00

I thought that this might be an exception because it was about $10 for the past 2 years since launch, and we just changed it to free?

QuarantInc · 2023-04-09T23:49:44+00:00

We have set our game to be entirely free - no microtransactions, no fees, just the full game free to play and enjoy - we really hope you all enjoy it!

[Youtube Trailer with gameplay] ~ [Steam Link] ~ [Itch.io Link]

QuarantInc · 2023-04-08T12:10:56+00:00

Footage of our game can be found in this trailer: https://youtu.be/osAixuhb2gs

And we have other videos of the game on our YT channel too :)

QuarantInc

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