The Russian horror film "The Cell" sold 160,000 copies
In mid-December, the Russian studio Callback — the creator of the adventure game "Kujlevka" — released a cooperative horror game "Klet" in early access on Steam. According to the developers, the game has been purchased about 160,000 times to date.
"Klet"
One of the authors of "Klet," Oleg Kiselev, revealed this figure in a conversation with game development blogger Yevgeny Grishakov. Below are a few more facts from the interview.
- It took Callback only a month to develop the prototype of "Klet," and three and a half months later, a demo version was ready.
- The demo version of the horror game caused much more excitement than the developers expected: they received an enormous amount of feedback, and new players began joining the studio's Discord server en masse.
- At the time of the demo version's release, the studio was already marketing the game but not very actively. According to Kiselev, word of mouth played a significant role in promoting the horror game.
- "The demo really hooked players, and of course, I had moments of greed. We've got a ready game here, and we're giving it away for free. I quickly got rid of that thought because I realized it didn't matter. The community stays, the project gains popularity, wishlists grow, and people will buy it anyway. That's exactly what happened. So, we supported the demo right up until the release without any pangs of conscience," confessed Kiselev.
- The first 100,000 wishlists for "Klet" were gathered in a week. By the time it launched in early access, 230,000 people had added it to their wishlists.
- The development of "Klet" was very cheap. The game's budget was "two cans of beer and ten packs of instant noodles." As Kiselev recalls, he relied on the free educational project Lyra Sample Game from Epic Games when creating the demo. Moreover, the community is now actively helping: they made the soundtrack and some models for "Klet" for free.
- Kiselev did not disclose how much the game earned, but he mentioned that there is enough money for him and his colleagues "to live on" and to develop the title further. Payments from Steam have not yet reached the authors of "Klet."
- The full release of "Klet" will occur in three to four quarters. What will happen next is still unclear. Kiselev does not rule out that his team will take on a new project. He is currently contemplating creating a multiplayer clicker that "offers honest emotions, rather than milking money."