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[Holammer]

Another weird indie breakout hit doing numbers on Steam. A Tarkov PVE parody game from Chinese indie studio Team Soda sold 300k copies in 2 days and reached 101k CCU today. That's 4.7M eurodollars before Valve's cut and variation in regional pricing.
95% user score and it's going to continue selling for awhile.

2025 feels like the year of the mega-indies. Developers with the finger on the pulse earning big. Megabonk, Peak, Schedule I, R.E.P.O, Ball x Pit & Silksong.

 

[Solarstrike]

End times.

 

[PauloRoberto]

To be honest, i would remove Silksong from that list. I mean, it's the offocial sequence of a famous game, it was annouced more than once on a Nintendo online event, it received MS money for gamepass...

 

[Holammer]

To be honest, i would remove Silksong from that list. I mean, it's the offocial sequence of a famous game, it was annouced more than once on a Nintendo online event, it received MS money for gamepass...

It's still an indie studio. They could have expanded and hired 300 people but they didn't.

 

[Arsic]

It's still an indie studio. They could have expanded and hired 300 people but they didn't.

Exactly. And 3 people made it didn't they?

The definition of indie.

 

[Dr Cowley]

Top down PvE? Yes!
Chinese company? I'll wait to see if others get scammed/hacked.
God speed you brave bastards, let me know if its good

Edit: currently no controller support. Defo waiting

 

[PauloRoberto]

It's still an indie studio. They could have expanded and hired 300 people but they didn't.

In that logic and using the pure definition of the word, almost every studio is a indie, right?

 

[Holammer]

Exactly. And 3 people made it didn't they?

The definition of indie.

Look at the padding on the Silksong credits.
Team Cherry is the batman of indie games, they just happen to have the luxury of time and money.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/246839/hollow-knight-silksong/credits/windows/

 

[BennyBlanco]

Huge W

 

[Holammer]

Huge W

In three days, pretty insane sales when you create something clever people actually want.
Looking at you Tim Schafer.

 

[BennyBlanco]

In three days, pretty insane sales when you create something clever people actually want.
Looking at you Tim Schafer.

And something like this selling 500k is massive when you consider the budget.

It is way more profitable than a AAA game selling 2 mil copies.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

They gamed Tarkov at the right time, well done I guess.

 

[twilo99]

Exactly. And 3 people made it didn't they?

The definition of indie.

Love that

 

[Holammer]

Twilo99 made a now locked thread where he (here's me assuming gender) pointed out that Duckov CCU peaked at 182k players today.
That's insaneo style for a top-down single player looter shooter. Here come the clones, just give it a few weeks/months.

Longwinter is similar and preceded Duckov, but they forced multiplayer which ultimately soured player experiences.

 

[BigBeauford]

They would have 300,001 if they would have included controller support. I mean come on, how do you not have controller support for a twin stick shooter.

 

[JayK47]

Looks pretty cool, but really needs coop to get me to pick it up. It does look like an early access game. With all the interest in the game, it would be a missed opportunity if they did not add some new features.

 

[Holammer]

Looks pretty cool, but really needs coop to get me to pick it up. It does look like an early access game. With all the interest in the game, it would be a missed opportunity if they did not add some new features.

With that sort of sales I think it's safe to say they're going to do give it plenty of post-launch content to give it legs.
If they don't add it themselves, there's a co-op mod under development.

 

[Holammer]

I don't want to post every day, but c'mon, look at that upward trajectory. Duckov is currently outgrossing Bloodlines 2, Ninja Gaiden 4 & Arc Raiders on Steam.
AAA games usually start off big and flatline in a few days, indies work differently.

They also posted about mods. Offering a guide to modders and early access to dev builds.

Escape From Duckov - Escape from Duckov | Mod Guide - Steam News

The World of Duckov Goes Beyond Loot— Every creative duckling can add their own colors to Duckov through Mods. 💚 💡 Why We Embrace Mods Since the game’s announcement, your feedback and imaginative ideas have been vital to our development process. We’ve always believed that Duckov’s potential...

store.steampowered.com

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

This is a meme game. Disregard it damn youuuuuu!

 

[Jinxed]

This looks like a little fun game. Might grab it

 

[TintoConCasera]

Big budgets can't do shit against the sheer power of fun gameplay.

 

[BossLackey]

This is exactly my type of shit. Buying now.

 

[Generic]

The powerful duck.

 

[Sanepar]

Anyone is playing? Is any good?

 

[realcool]

It's affordable, and I'd consider playing it if it came to PS5.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Reminder: this is a meme game and doesn't count

 

[Zamana]

Anyone is playing? Is any good?

Yes it's excellent. My complaint would be that the controls (KBM) aren't perfect but work alright and wish I could zoom in a bit more/UI scaling options.

This is a single player game with an ending. Lot's of content, ~50 guns, crafting, 5 maps, really good shooting (sound and feedback feels great). Also cheap.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Keep in mind that this is a meme game and therefore doesn't count, you pay for it with meme money

 

[Holammer]

The meme game is still crushing it in sales & engagement. It's been higher on Global Top Grossing than Bloodlines 2 & Ninja Gaiden since they released. When they drop off the Top100 (next week), Duckov will be there for a few more months. I think there's an argument for lowering prices and sell volume instead of trying to fleece fewer buyers at 69,99.

Talked about this many times before and I posit you miss out on extremely valuable network effects and trending potential by going too high. This year we've seen enough examples of indies gaming the algorithms and achieving critical mass.

 

[nikos]

Tempted to jump on the bandwagon but I'm not sure how much of a point there is to an extraction shooter without PvP.

 

[MagiusNecros]

The meme game is still crushing it in sales & engagement. It's been higher on Global Top Grossing than Bloodlines 2 & Ninja Gaiden since they released. When they drop off the Top100 (next week), Duckov will be there for a few more months. I think there's an argument for lowering prices and sell volume instead of trying to fleece fewer buyers at 69,99.

Talked about this many times before and I posit you miss out on extremely valuable network effects and trending potential by going too high. This year we've seen enough examples of indies gaming the algorithms and achieving critical mass.

People just want fun games at affordable prices. And a lot of indie devs are providing this. Many big games are charging $70 for $20 worth of content.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

This is a meme game, does everyone understand?

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

In three days, pretty insane sales when you create something clever people actually want.
Looking at you Tim Schafer.

What did Tim do?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

What did Tim do?

He Willy Wonka'd himself out of the game industry.

 

[Holammer]

What did Tim do?

Keeper, it released a day after Duckov. Award bait and many wonder if it's the studio's swansong before MS shut the doors.
191 Players all time peak on Steam.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

Keeper, it released a day after Duckov. Award bait and many wonder if it's the studio's swansong before MS shut the doors.
191 Players all time peak on Steam.

Tim didn't direct Keeper it was Lee Petty. Keeper is certainly a double fine game but Tim is directing something else.

Lee Petty came up with the idea for the game and he was even the one who decided not to have the characters talk (which I find off-putting because double fines comedy genius generally comes from dialogue). He wanted the game to be a palate cleanser and be very short which the game is. It's Pettys baby through and through.

 

[bender]

Keeper, it released a day after Duckov. Award bait and many wonder if it's the studio's swansong before MS shut the doors.
191 Players all time peak on Steam.

How is it award bait?

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

Keeper, it released a day after Duckov. Award bait and many wonder if it's the studio's swansong before MS shut the doors.
191 Players all time peak on Steam.

Damn I just noticed your avatar

 

[Plague Doctor]

I love this news. Gotta pick this one up.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

How is it award bait?

Artsy, pretty, bad gameplay.

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[Plague Doctor]

Just picked it up and the game is prety fun. I can see why it is doing so well.

 

[Mikado]

Played a ton of this over the last week. It starts out pretty easy - the free "hatchling" pistol can handle just about anything in the first zone (minus the boss), but it ramps up quick, especially in the second zone.

It's not a "Forever Game"; it's got a definite ending but I've definitely gotten my money's worth. It's got a lot of charm and it's refreshing to see a game that's just designed to be fun, rather than a moneysink.

 

[Coolade]

The game has steam workshop support and you can download a controller support mod until the dev puts it in.

 

[BennyBlanco]

The game has steam workshop support and you can download a controller support mod until the dev puts it in.

How is it? I was waiting for controller support to buy this because I wanna play it on Steam deck.

 

[Coolade]

On the d

How is it? I was waiting for controller support to buy this because I wanna play it on Steam deck.

On the deck you can use the right mouse track pad to aim or lower the sensitivity if you want to aim with the analog stick. I found myself just using the right track pad to aim and buttons for everything else.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Extraction Shooter Non Believers:

 

[Plague Doctor]

Up to 2 million now as per their community post today.