Indie Smash Hit Dear Esther Sells 16,000 Copies in One Day
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Dark and minimalist First-Person explorer adventure Dear Esther has seen monumental sales success through Steam.
It seems that February is the month of alternative funding success stories. Right off the back of Tim Schafer’s incredible multi-million dollar kickstarter for a new adventure game, another vindication of alternative funding has come along in the form of Dear Esther.
The Indie Fund, independent financier and supporter of indie games has posted how the game managed to recoup its $55,000 development costs in only 5 and a half hours after being available to buy on Steam. With these costs are a mere trifle compared to the big budget AAA titles, the speed at which it sold is still startling.
To be honest, we are a little surprised by how many people bought Dear Esther so quickly. We were expecting the game to have a niche appeal. In fact the situation is quite different; all day it was the top-selling game on Steam.
But what is this Dear Esther all about then? Well I’m glad you asked. Check out the trailer:
Still not entirely clear, is it? Dear Esther is an incredibly minimalist explorer adventure where you find you what happened on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides (north-west of Scotland). The game takes you into a surreal dream-like state where it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what is imagined, until you piece together the whole story.
So imagine Silent Hill, but without the abject terror and monster-killing. Then add a story that’s more haunting than terrifying and an open exploration element. That’s still not a great explanation but it’s close enough.
Clearly, Dear Esther’s appeal is less niche than its creators originally thought.
