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Fun Sales Fakts - a financial summary for the witness by Jonathan Blow

S

Spirited

Mine is pretty and pink
Website is a bit hammered at this point link

Here it is for you who doesn't get it to load.

The Witness has now been on sale for a week, so it seems like a good time to post a financial summary. Often, independent developers find these kinds of numbers useful in making their own plans, and the general public can find them interesting too.

There is a wrinkle, which is that I can’t be too precise about the sales results on specific platforms, because often when we sign a deal with a particular store, we agree not to reveal their sales numbers. I am actually not sure at this time which stores we are allowed to be specific about and which we aren’t, and I would have to dig up and sort through a number of contracts to be sure about it; but that is not a good use of time right now, since I am spending most of my day supporting the users who have technical problems (shipping games on PCs these days is really not fun). The situation can be thorny in subtle ways, too, because if I post information about all stores but one, then I am implicitly revealing the sales figures for that last store, which is not allowed.

Finally, I want to make clear that we did not make this game in order to make money. We were trying to build a beautiful / interesting / intricate thing, first and foremost. The money just helps us stay in business in order to build new things. It is very easy on the Internet to read a financial posting like this cynically, so I urge folks out there not to do that.

Okay, so here’s what I can say:

Across all platforms, The Witness has totalled over $5 million USD gross revenue in the first week, and it has sold substantially more than 100,000 units.

This is a good chunk more revenue in one week than Braid made in its entire first year, from August 2008-September 2009. (Braid initially launched on XBLA in August 2008, and it came to Steam in April 2009). Braid was considered a hit independent game at the time.

We can also compare sales by units instead of revenue; this is a little more of an apples-to-oranges comparison because The Witness has a higher price than Braid did (Braid launched at $14.99 [$16.50 when inflation-adjusted to 2015 dollars], and The Witness launched at $39.99). By number of units, the first week of each individual platform handily beats Braid’s first week of sales. (Witness on PC by itself beat Braid’s first week by a decent margin, and Witness on PSN by itself beat Braid’s first week by a decent margin, counting only by number of units). This is great because as price goes up, naturally the number of units sold goes down. So the fact that we beat Braid by units, more than doubly, is a really nice success.

The Witness launched on two platforms, PSN and Windows PC. Neither of these platforms dominates our sales; PC is very strong for us, and PSN is very strong for us.

There are some publicly-available guesstimates for specific platforms on sites such as SteamSpy, but the numbers that SteamSpy is reporting for The Witness are a bit too low (though this is kind of to be expected, I guess, from the way that site works).

So, the game is doing great. That doesn’t mean we have broken even on our development cost yet! Because our development budget was so high, $5 million in revenue is not enough to recover it yet (because we split that revenue with the storefronts, we have to subtract VAT in Europe, etc). However, it is looking like, as time goes on, we should break even and make a comfortable safety margin on top of that, which will allow us to make more nice games in the future — unless some kind of world economic disaster happens.

As I mentioned, right now we are dealing mostly with PC graphics driver problems, and we are also working on adding some features to the game about configurable controls and rendering options, for PC and PS4.

After this, in the near future, we will start investigating the bringing the game to other platforms. Under serious consideration are: iOS, Android, Xbox One, OS X. We will provide more-concrete information about these as it becomes available!
Click to expand...

Close if old.
 
Spirited said:
Website is a bit hammered at this point link

Some short parts if you for some reason doesn't feel like reading this relatively small summary



and



Close if the sales is shit because $40 launch price.
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Great for them. The problem with the price tag isnt with the witness, at least as far as I'm concerned. I scoffed at the 40$ price tag, but upon playing it, am 100% fine with it. The problem is when you'll get other "indie" devs following suit and trying to say their product should be 39.99 as well. We'll see down the road, but I have a feeling with the success of this, it'll happen sooner rather than later.
 
I'm really happy to see this. I thought the game was fantastic and can't wait to see more from Jonathan. The game was worth every penny I payed for it.
 
This just makes me want to know more sales figures for puzzle games. Tetris is the best seller I'm sure, it'd be nice if someone from sales age had a chart somewhere of recent puzzle hits.
 
"we didn't make the game to make money, now please read this summary of how much money we're making, but you can't call us out on it because art"
 
Dr. Black Jack said:
"we didn't make the game to make money, now please read this summary of how much money we're making"
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no person in their right mind spends 8 years on a game because they're trying to make a ton of money. If he had wanted to, he could've spent much less time and money making the witness and released it years ago.

also, making games isnt a charity.
 
gameongreggy said:
Great for them. The problem with the price tag isnt with the witness, at least as far as I'm concerned. I scoffed at the 40$ price tag, but upon playing it, am 100% fine with it. The problem is when you'll get other "indie" devs following suit and trying to say their product should be 39.99 as well. We'll see down the road, but I have a feeling with the success of this, it'll happen sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...

I suspect this won't be the case. Jonathan Blow is in a unique position with gamers in that he's well known and his previous game was a hit. Most indie developers don't have that credibility, and they know full well they'd be pricing themselves out of the market unless they hold a seriously good hand, which they know they don't.

Also, The Witness is priced as high as it is because of the development costs, mostly caused by extreme development time. Most indie developers will have a hard time justifying a high price with similar arguments.

shortsFortallPeople said:
no person in their right mind spends 8 years on a game because they're trying to make a ton of money. If he had wanted to, he could've spent much less time and money making the witness and released it years ago.
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Didn't he also use all the money he earned on Braid to develop The Witness?
 
Herr Starr said:
I suspect this won't be the case. Jonathan Blow is in a unique position with gamers in that he's well known and his previous game was a hit. Most indie developers don't have that credibility, and they know full well they'd be pricing themselves out of the market unless they hold a seriously good hand, which they know they don't.

Also, The Witness is priced as high as it is because of the development costs, mostly caused by extreme development time. Most indie developers will have a hard time justifying a high price with similar arguments.
Click to expand...

Well, what I'm imagining is the Wii library- in no world is whatever the hell shovelware worth the same price as Mario Galaxy. I'm thinking worst case scenario.
 
gameongreggy said:
Great for them. The problem with the price tag isnt with the witness, at least as far as I'm concerned. I scoffed at the 40$ price tag, but upon playing it, am 100% fine with it. The problem is when you'll get other "indie" devs following suit and trying to say their product should be 39.99 as well. We'll see down the road, but I have a feeling with the success of this, it'll happen sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you're trying to say here? They should have priced it lower, even though it was worth it, because other shittier games might try and ask for more now?
 
shortsFortallPeople said:
no person in their right mind spends 8 years on a game because they're trying to make a ton of money. If he had wanted to, he could've spent much less time and money making the witness and released it years ago.

also, making games isnt a charity.
Click to expand...


Then why post "sales fakts" at all? Oh right, to humble brag about how good the game is/what auteurs the creators are.
 
Dr. Black Jack said:
"we didn't make the game to make money, now please read this summary of how much money we're making, but you can't call us out on it because art"
Click to expand...

Did you actually read any of it to realize he was talking about covering development costs? Developing a game with a full time staff for multiple years isn't free.
 
Dr. Black Jack said:
Then why post "sales fakts" at all? Oh right, to humble brag about how good the game is/what auteurs the creators are.
Click to expand...

or it's to inform the public and other indie devs of how things are playing out with his long in gestation project that he launched at a higher-than-usual price of $40?

I think there are a lot of folks, developers and enthusiasts, who want to know how his whole Witness experiment is working out.

Would you just rather not have this information be disclosed or something?
 
shortsFortallPeople said:
no person in their right mind spends 8 years on a game because they're trying to make a ton of money. If he had wanted to, he could've spent much less time and money making the witness and released it years ago.

also, making games isnt a charity.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I feel Blow could have easily just cashed in the success of Braid, created some kind of Braid 2 in a year or two, and rolled in the cash.
Playing The Witness makes me realize it's a true labor of love. The industry needs more of those, IMO.
 
CecilRousso said:
Not sure what you're trying to say here? They should have priced it lower, even though it was worth it, because other shittier games might try and ask for more now?
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Nope. Stop reaching, I said the game was worth that price point. Read.

What I'm saying is, once people see that an "indie" can get away with that, others may try to push the boundary of what they will charge- nothing more , nothing less.

Edit: Not so much "get away with it" as this was validated upon playing the game- just choosing wrong words here.
 
As I mentioned, right now we are dealing mostly with PC graphics driver problems, and we are also working on adding some features to the game about configurable controls and rendering options, for PC and PS4.
Click to expand...
When they find time they should also fix just a few small things about the VR mode.

Enter the Dragon Punch said:
why are people getting mad over blow releasing information that the game is doing well
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I don't get it either.
 
Dr. Black Jack said:
"we didn't make the game to make money, now please read this summary of how much money we're making, but you can't call us out on it because art"
Click to expand...
Uh they're still at least 2.5 million in the red (5 million revenue, and you're looking at a minimum of 30% cut through stores, but there are other costs involved too) compared to the 6 million budget. Secondly, as a developer that's very valuable information, not something they are bragging about.
 
braves01 said:
This just makes me want to know more sales figures for puzzle games. Tetris is the best seller I'm sure, it'd be nice if someone from sales age had a chart somewhere of recent puzzle hits.
Click to expand...

Tetris is the best seller. I expect the Layton is series is up there too, being over 15m as of 2013, and PuyoPuyo is going to be up there if just due to sheer density of releases.

After that it's hard to say.
 
Why does he keep picking on Braid?

It was a fraction of the price and released before social media had blown up and before indie gaming was really a thing. As a matter of fact, many argue Braid WAS the game to put indie gaming into the mainstream.

Ease up on Braid.
 
gameongreggy said:
Well, what I'm imagining is the Wii library- in no world is whatever the hell shovelware worth the same price as Mario Galaxy. I'm thinking worst case scenario.
Click to expand...



Comparing orange and apples here. Retail games first. Even though the budget is lower, there's no point for sub 40 dollars retail releases in term of margins. That's why shovelware are expensive. The Witness won't lead the way for a new pricing, or at least not without the same production values. Indie market is an harsh one.
 
Collingwood said:
Why does he keep picking on Braid?

It was a fraction of the price and released before social media had blown up and before indie gaming was really a thing. As a matter of fact, many argue Braid WAS the game to put indie gaming into the mainstream.

Ease up on Braid.
Click to expand...

He compares his new game's sales to his old game that he also have complete sales facts for?
Not that weird.
 
Collingwood said:
Why does he keep picking on Braid?

It was a fraction of the price and released before social media had blown up and before indie gaming was really a thing. As a matter of fact, many argue Braid WAS the game to put indie gaming into the mainstream.

Ease up on Braid.
Click to expand...

Because Braid was the game that enabled him to make The Witness. If The Witness is succesful, he can make the next game.

You do know that it was he who made Braid?
 
_machine said:
Uh they're still at least 2.5 million in the black (5 million revenue, and you're looking at a minimum of 30% cut through stores, but there are other costs involved too) compared to the 6 million budget. Secondly, as a developer that's very valuable information, not something they are bragging about.
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I think you mean "2.5 million in the red" :p
 
dave is ok said:
He should just put out a companion app with 600+ puzzle screens and no island, walking or anything.

I'd buy it
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Seems like you haven't played the game, because that would be actually impossible. The puzzles are part of the world, and the world is part of the puzzles.
 
Not sure what you're trying to say here? They should have priced it lower, even though it was worth it, because other shittier games might try and ask for more now?
Click to expand...

gameongreggy said:
Nope. Stop reaching, I said the game was worth that price point. Read.

What I'm saying is, once people see that an "indie" can get away with that, others may try to push the boundary of what they will charge- nothing more , nothing less.
Click to expand...

He wasn't reaching, just asking for a clarification in the form of two questions, because your post does convey fear that other games might follow suit and price higher. As you say, nothing more, nothing less.

Your clarification edit confirms that's exactly what you meant, too. So, his line of questioning was spot on/not offensively wrong.
 
shortsFortallPeople said:
no person in their right mind spends 8 years on a game because they're trying to make a ton of money. If he had wanted to, he could've spent much less time and money making the witness and released it years ago.

also, making games isnt a charity.
Click to expand...
AAA development says hi?
Go check on Rockstar or the Mass Effect team @ Bioware.

Yes 8 years is long even for AAA but still lots of projects go on for very long and all that matters to the publisher = MONEY.
 
nynt9 said:
Seems like you haven't played the game, because that would be actually impossible. The puzzles are part of the world, and the world is part of the puzzles.
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I've played the game and it's entirely possible. Im strictly talking puzzle screens. I'm surprised no one has ripped this off yet by changing certain rules around
 
I don't even see why the "indie" qualification matters. Either a game is worth $40 or it's not. This game seems to have the content and production quality that justifies the price.
 
CecilRousso said:
Because Braid was the game that enabled him to make The Witness. If The Witness is succesful, he can make the next game.

You do know that it was he who made Braid?
Click to expand...

Yeah of course. Maybe it's just the way it's worded. It just seems strange to even compare it to Braid given context and the time that's past.

Maybe disingenuous is the word I'm looking for.
 
dave is ok said:
I've played the game and it's entirely possible. Im strictly talking puzzle screens. I'm surprised no one has ripped this off yet by changing certain rules around
Click to expand...

Only a handful of puzzle types in this game would work separately from the game world, and it would quickly grow dull with only those to pick from.
 
The Dutch Slayer said:
AAA development says hi?
Go check on Rockstar or the Mass Effect team @ Bioware.

Yes 8 years is long even for AAA but still lots of projects go on for very long and all that matters to the publisher = MONEY.
Click to expand...

that's why i specified "person." Of course a multi-billion dollar corporation will keep trucking, they have both the funds and the incentive to do so.

A single guy, though? Naw, Blow could've released braid 2 or some sort of butchered version of the witness 4-5 years ago if money was the main concern
 
dave is ok said:
I've played the game and it's entirely possible. Im strictly talking puzzle screens. I'm surprised no one has ripped this off yet by changing certain rules around
Click to expand...

How would that work with the puzzles in, say, the greenhouse, the forest behind the woodworking factory, the back half of the fort with the hedge maze, the pink orchard, the desert ruins?
 
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