Belgian developer Tale of Tales’ narrative exploration game Sunset, which casts players as an American citizen abroad who gets embroiled in a military coup, was a respectable hit with critics, but didn’t quite resonate with the public.
Despite the team spending more money than they ever had before on the game’s production and marketing, total sales amounted to a disappointing 4,000. That’s low enough that founders Michaël Samyn and Auriea Harvey have decided to cut their losses and close the studio for good.
In a rather melancholy blog post, the pair explain their pride at what they achieved artistically, but also give an insight into the tough reality of indie game development.
“In the end, we spent more money than we had on the production of Sunset,” they write. “Because we wanted to make it really good and reach a wider audience. Compared to the ambitions we had for the game, the extra $40,000 seemed like a relatively small sum. “Surely we can make that amount back in the first month of sales!”
“We were wrong. So far a little over 4,000 copies of Sunset have changed hands. That includes the copies for our backers on Kickstarter. That includes the sale.”
It’s always a shame when a creative team has to cease creating. Despite their disappointment, Samyn and Harvey says they are “happy and proud” with the work they did on Sunset. It’s a sobering reminder that mainstream coverage, general critical praise and expensive marketing campaigns aren’t always enough to ensure a game’s commercial success.
Sunseti s still available for 50% off as part of the Steam sale, if you’re interested.
