Chapter 25: A Great Success
"Thank you all for your support, Undertale has surpassed 200,000 sales."
Following Alex's official blog post, some indie game designers and media outlets who followed him were stunned. Why? Because they seemed to have seen that same post before. It surpassed 20,000 sales in just three days, and now, just one week later, it has already surpassed 200,000? An incredible increase, right?!
Consequently, a wave of articles about Undertale began to appear online.
"Sales surpassed 200,000 in 10 days! High rating: 9.7!"
"A must-have for everyone! An indie game masterpiece!"
"Subverting players' perception of RPGs! A unique RPG!"
"An incredibly powerful game!"
For indie game designers, some who had previously been indifferent, now delved into Undertale. Although positive reviews were no big deal, Undertale's solid sales figures clearly demonstrated the potential of this model.
As for the media, since they had already published similar articles, they could simply reuse them, change the headlines, and that was it. These video game media unanimously praised Undertale; after all, it was a resounding success. It received both critical acclaim and sales, and its overall quality was impeccable.
Coupled with its unique metagame setting, it captivated countless players and designers. With a game like this, even those who wanted to criticize it would find it difficult to find a point of view to do so.
Amidst this media frenzy, Undertale's popularity soared. While sales had already surpassed 200,000, with such a solid reputation and such significant popularity, it was clear that 200,000 sales would not be the end of the game.
This immense popularity also attracted many players who had been watching the game to David Cannon's official blog. Unfortunately, the original post was deleted and comments were disabled. It's fair to say that this guy has a terrible reputation.
Undertale is a resounding success right now, and players, whether they have opinions or simply enjoy the fun, naturally cannot let it go. Especially those who originally played Mirror, they are extremely enthusiastic. Although the post was deleted and comments were disabled, Alex's official blog entry still contains it. Many players rushed to Alex's previous official entry and began to attack him.
"@David Cannon, Master Cannon, please, criticize Undertale! Games are art! How can they allow these kinds of games to be so arrogant?!"
"@David Cannon, Master Cannon, please, speak! 'Bloom' will definitely crush Undertale, right? Why has it just surpassed 10,000 sales? I can't believe it! Master Cannon's game is art, and these players must not appreciate it. It's not the game that's bad, it's these players!"
"@David Cannon, Master Cannon, keep it up! How well you said it then!"
Among Alex's few official Twitter posts, there were countless @David Cannon messages. Some of the most iconic and sarcastic replies had thousands of "likes."
And David Cannon right now? In short: playing dead. He didn't want to either. But there was no other option! In his original vision, his supreme ability was to exploit his opponent's weaknesses using his strengths. If your sales surpass mine, I'll talk about reputation. If your reputation is better, I'll talk about art. If you're more artistic, I'll talk about sales. If all else fails, I can be insensitive and compare it to the duration of your game.
Anyway, I'll compare it to what surpasses me. But it's no longer possible! Everything has been exposed. It's impossible to say that his Blooming sells for $8, which is $1 more expensive than your Undertale, right? So David Cannon decided to play dead! He simply doesn't believe that you, Alex, can create such a good game next.
Under the attention of the entire gaming community, Undertale's statistics continue to rise. Thanks to its excellent reputation, the subsequent growth rate remains very stable. When Alex publicly announced that Undertale's sales had surpassed 200,000 copies, the sales trend continued upwards.
August 15th marked one month since Undertale's official launch. Total sales finally exceeded 200,000, a feat never achieved by Mirror. The news of 200,000 sales in its first month surprised countless indie game designers. With a price of $7, even if most of those sales came from third-party platforms, it was enough for Alex to earn almost a million dollars in revenue in just one month. Not to mention the significant sales of Mirror's downloadable content during that period.
Setting aside Mirror, Undertale's sales can be attributed entirely to its excellent plot and design. This has led countless game designers to analyze Undertale's strengths and successes. For the young Nebula Games, Undertale's success has brought it fame and fortune. Furthermore, compared to its predecessor, the parallel world Undertale achieved 200,000 sales in its first month solely through the Western market. Alex offered a brief analysis of this.
First, the parallel world environment: just as consoles were a niche platform here, while PC and mobile games were common. The video game market in the parallel world is much larger than in my previous life. The Western market is immense and has a very loyal player base. It's a vibrant and active market.
Second, compared to my previous life, Alex has significantly improved the graphics. After all, Undertale was the work of an indie game developer, crowdfunded. Manpower and funds were extremely limited.
For a game, good visuals are undoubtedly an advantage, not a disadvantage. After all, there are only players who are discouraged by poor graphics, not players who refuse to play because they are too good.
Alex is quite satisfied with Undertale's current sales. As for other markets, since policies in the parallel world differ from those in his previous life, he is not considering them in the short term. Mirror never passed censorship in China or launched on an official foreign platform. While it is official, it is completely different from Undertale. Undertale, on the other hand, has already launched on Western platforms.
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