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Jools Watsham: Chicken Wiggle in 22 days sold half of what Xeodrifter did in 1 Day

T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
It seems Chicken Wiggle has been severely under performed and the game's creator, Jools Watsham, just posted a depressing blog post about the situation and the state of indie games on 3DS.

The transition from 3DS to Switch is upon us! Today is September 8, three weeks after Chicken Wiggle released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. I was confident all of the effort we poured into Chicken Wiggle for 3DS would pay off. The excitement level built up from releasing screenshots, and then short video clips, ultimately culminating with the trailer and footage of new gameplay features seemed to have folks excited about the game. My calculations were very wrong, apparently.

First day sales were shockingly low. Worldwide sales for Chicken Wiggle on day one were about 10% of Xeodrifter's day one sales in North America. Xeodrifter's numbers dwarf Chicken Wiggle's, but Xeodrifter's numbers weren't particularly impressive compared to what is considered a ”success" on the 3DS eShop. Chicken Wiggle's first day sales were so low, I thought there was an error in the sales report. Many of my developer friends thought the same when I shared the news. ”That can't be right!" echoed in my mind.

I gave it a few days to see if the report changed the next day or the next, hoping there was a delay in reporting and the real day one numbers would catch up. Sadly, the numbers never changed. It was indeed the real data. The next logical step was to hope that sales would increase the following days. Maybe the release day was just a slow day for sales? Nope. Less copies were sold on day two, and even less on day three. It continued to drop each day. As of September 8, the number of copies sold worldwide in 22 days is a little more than half of what Xeodrifter sold on its FIRST DAY in North America. Wow!

Clearly, I misjudged something. Perhaps the game is not appealing to the 3DS eShop audience? Perhaps it is overpriced? Perhaps the 3DS eShop audience has moved onto the Switch? Maybe it is one of these things. Maybe it is all of these things. Maybe it is something else that I am unaware of. It is shocking, to say the least. Trying to find answers, I am torn between trying to find someone else to blame and asking myself what mistakes did I make? It's not a fun place to be, but it is important that I try to find answers and learn from it so I can try to avoid it happening again.
Click to expand...

I think it should go without saying that I have no plans to release any more titles on the 3DS. This saddens me, greatly. I love the 3DS. But, if a polished title like Chicken Wiggle can't find a home on the 3DS - a 3DS exclusive at that - I don't know what indie game can. Anyway, I do want to say thank you to those players who have contacted me to tell me how much fun they have had with the game. The levels that you have created and shared on-line are truly impressive. Many of you are doing things with the level editor that I have not seen before. It is very exciting to see.

Chicken Wiggle will go on a two week flash sale in North America starting September 14. The price will drop from $14.99 to $9.99 during that period (33% savings). A two week flash sale will start in Europe the following week, September 21, also with 33% savings. The eShop game page is located here.

I have already revealed that we're working on Mutant Mudds for Switch as well as Treasurenauts for Switch. I am very excited about both titles. I will have more news to share soon on them.
Click to expand...

More here: http://joolswatsham.blogspot.com/2017/09/breaking-eggs-making-omelettes.html?spref=tw
 
B

Briarios

Member
Rodney McKay said:
I really liked Mutant Mudds and Xeodrifter, but I honestly never even heard of "Chicken Wiggle" before now.
Click to expand...

Same, never even heard of the game ... Heard of all the others, though. So, I think it was a marketing issue -- or, at the very least, that's part of the problem.
 
B

Balb

Member
From what I've heard the game is really fun, but the title gives me Wii shovelware era vibes and I'm guessing the core audience on 3DS fell off a cliff faster than Nintendo anticipated.
 
B

bobbychalkers

Member
....Probably because its called chicken wiggle
EDIT: just looked the game up, it doesn't look bad but yeah the branding gives off typical 3DS shovelware vibes.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
It's all of those things; the 3DS is dead, the game is expensive, the game is not immediately appealing (it mostly looks like Mutant Mudds with a Chicken instead of a kid), no real pre-release promotion, most people looking for a platformer aren't planning on making levels so the key unique selling point probably doesn't drive that much attention.
 
M

Muzy72

Banned
I think the name of the game sounding like shovelware doesn't help.

But in general I think 3DS indies should probably be looking to move on to Switch. The only games I want to pick up for 3DS nowadays are must have games that I can't find anywhere else, like Metroid: Samus Returns.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Releasing it on 3DS was the death sentence for the game, even if it was pretty good. On Switch it could've easily received much more coverage.
 
E

EhoaVash

Member
chicken wiggle

...yeah pretty bad name. sounds like your typical mobile free to play mobile game. honestly just looking at it, it reminds me of flappy bird ...
 
J

James Scott

Banned
Jools seems to think a Switch release is in more demand. I'd buy it on Switch, heard it was pretty good but it's kind of hard to go back to 3DS.

Take the time to rename it with a Switch release as well.
 
R

ramoisdead

Member
The name, the price tag, the platform it was released on, the look of it...now compare it with Xeodrfiter which cost less, released earlier on when people played the 3DS often, the look of it and was described as a Metroidvania game.

Jools should've just released Treasurenauts for the 3DS.
 
M

McGruber21

Member
I think it's mostly due to the state of the 3DS at the moment. That is also why nobody seems to have heard of this game. Unlike Mario Maker 3DS, you can share your levels online with this.
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
Father_Brain said:
Bad title, bad time to release on 3DS and not Switch.
Click to expand...

He wasn't able to get a dev kit, been trying since before Switch was officially revealed. So nothing he could have done there.

ramoisdead said:
The name, the price tag, the platform it was released on, the look of it...now compare it with Xeodrfiter which cost less, released earlier on when people played the 3DS often, the look of it and was described as a Metroidvania game.

Jools should've just released Treasurenauts for the 3DS.
Click to expand...

"just released" ...the game is far from done, he does these smaller games to fund dev of Treasurenauts in the meantime.

BernardoOne said:
No marketing
Terrible, terrible name
Releasing on dead platform
Click to expand...

3DS is not a dead platform.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Briarios said:
Same, never even heard of the game ... Heard of all the others, though. So, I think it was a marketing issue -- or, at the very least, that's part of the problem.
Click to expand...
I just watched a video of it and it doesn't seem to have as good of a "hook" as Xeodrifter or Mutant Mudds had.

Mutant Mudds had the fun "hopping between layers" trick that worked great with the 3DS's 3D as well as a satisfying upgrade mechanic, and Xeodrifter had the whole "low-fi Metroid" look going for it (I own it, but haven't played more than a few minutes of it yet).

Chicken Wiggle's main gameplay mechanic seems to be the worm-hook, which doesn't seem particularly compelling.
 
B

BiggNife

Member
1) Chicken Wiggle is a terrible name that makes me think of shovelware like Funky Farm and Angry Bunnies. If it weren't for this thread I probably wouldn't have ever looked at it.

2) The 3DS is in a weird place right now and the eshop particularly is pretty bloated. Putting it on the Switch would've given it a lot more attention.
 
T

The_Darkest_Red

Member
Rodney McKay said:
I really liked Mutant Mudds and Xeodrifter, but I honestly never even heard of "Chicken Wiggle" before now.
Click to expand...
Same for me.

That said, I think his hunch about 3DS owners moving on to Switch for indie games is accurate. There is very little chance I'll buy another indie game on 3DS, to be honest.
 
D

DeuceGamer

Member
Spiritwalker said:
That name makes me think of mobile shovelware lol.
Click to expand...

First thing I thought of as well.

I think the core Nintendo audience that would normally be interested in eShop games has largely moved on to the Switch. We've seen the software sales of 3DS titles slow down in the Media Create threads with various Atlus projects and others. Outside of a couple of major titles like Pokemon (and hopefully Metroid), it's not going to change. The audience was ready for new hardware and has largely moved on from the 3DS. Developers would be better served moving all of their projects to Switch ASAP.

Edit: Just looked up gameplay and It looks like a quality title like Mutant Mudds. I'd wager if it released on Switch it would have been successful. Obviously, we'll never know but he should be working on a port ASAP as I would expect it to be a quick port job.
 
K

Kouriozan

Member
First time hearing about it, also haven't touched my 3DS in ages.
3DS seems to have died super quick though, or this is other problems about why this isn't selling.
 
B

brinstar

Member
Personally, I'm not buying anything off the 3DS eshop at this point because it's basically a dead end. So if your indie game is only on 3DS at this point I'm not gonna see it. On top of that, "Chicken Wiggle" sounds like a shovelware game name, so it wouldn't get me to stop while scrolling by stuff.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
Man, I feel terrible for Jools, but even knowing very little about these things I was worried about how well a game called Chicken Wiggle would do... I thought it was only me not being a native english speaker and maybe the name wasn't as bad as I thought, but seeing the responses here... Yeah.k

I'd guess the name and price were the biggest reasons. And let me be clear that the asking price is worth it in my eyes, but clearly not everyone will agree.

But yeah, literally the only reason I even bothered learning what a game called Chicken Wiggle is was that I follow Jools on Twitter and like his games, otherwise I'd have assumed it was some shovelware mobile port or something like that.
 
S

spad3

Member
FROM THE NAMING CONVENTION THAT BROUGHT YOU OCTODAD DADLIEST CATCH AND COW EVOLUTION

HERE IS CHICKEN WIGGLE

who the f would buy a game named chicken wiggle wtf
 
R

Razlo

Member
It's a game that thrives on user created levels and a long tail. That's the opposite of where the 3DS is at this point in its life. I'll get it day one when it hits Switch.
 
shaowebb

shaowebb

Member
BernardoOne said:
No marketing
Terrible, terrible name
Releasing on dead platform
Click to expand...

Also dont forget releasing an unadventurous platformer on a system loaded with so many stellar titles in that genre. Small jump arcs, slow walk speed, no true exploration...what was the hook besides an editor? It just had charm was all but nothing to make it stand out and be memorable as a platformer besides a cute character. It wasn't gonna work.
 
L

LinkSlayer64

Member
name sounds fine to me, games like "whoa dave" sold well and all that. I think the bigger issue is I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS.
I wouldn't say 3DS is dead either, maybe it's the timing of back to school?
 
R

Razlo

Member
spad3 said:
FROM THE NAMING CONVENTION THAT BROUGHT YOU OCTODAD DADLIEST CATCH AND COW EVOLUTION

HERE IS CHICKEN WIGGLE

who the f would buy a game named chicken wiggle wtf
Click to expand...

I'd buy any game that's good. Game title really doesn't factor into my purchasing decisions.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
Name and platforms are important. Rocket League wouldn't be successful if it was called Super Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Car 2 and if it was PS3 only.

The name, the platform, the timing and yes, maybe the price. These are all the reasons why it might have been a hard sell.
 
S

Shortiloe

Neo Member
Price is WAY too high for a 2D Side-Scrolling game like this, 3DS eShop is dead by this time for games like that and well... there are already more than enough games like this one in the eShop.
 
T

Thud

Member
Digital on 3DS is probably dead, while physical is still hanging on.

Also don't call your game chicken wiggle.
 
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