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[Shard]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20257

ndie developer The Behemoth released Castle Crashers just over two weeks ago, and has told Gamasutra that the game has now reached 250,000 players, also revealing patch plans for the game and a 5-fold increase in Alien Hominid HD players due to CC's release.

“I’m pleasantly surprised that so many people are playing the game,” says Behemoth lead artist Dan Paladin to Gamasutra, confirming that a quarter of a million players are now on the game's leaderboards. “I was optimistic and hopeful for Castle Crashers but I wasn't prepared for the reception it got."

The company released Alien Hominid HD, an update to its original retail title, earlier in 2007 -- but with the release of Castle Crashers, which has multiple references to that other title, Alien Hominid HD has climbed up the leaderboards.

This doesn’t necessarily imply many additional sales, but those who purchased it are dusting off the game, partially because obtaining one of its achievements unlocks a character in Castle Crashers.

“Before Castle launched, Alien was doing pretty well and selling very consistently,” says Paladin. “But since launch we've seen a rediscovery of the game and approximately five times the number of people are now playing the game compared to earlier this year.”

Was The Behemoth worried about how the overt “buy our game” messages would be received? “Not too much,” says Paladin. “Most gamers know that Castle Crashers exists because our hardcore fans bought Alien Hominid HD, which helped keep the doors open to develop Castle. The Behemoth is a small company doing one game at a time and not a mega-publisher with money to burn.”

Naturally, the big topic at the moment is the connectivity problems the game has faced, with online matches frequently dropping players and losing their experience points.

“We've made a number of changes,” Paladin says, “but they are difficult to test fully until it is released to the public network. We are doing a lot of testing on a private network, but it isn't exactly the same. As for timing, Microsoft has a detailed process that we must follow for fixing issues that crop up after release. It is not a simple process of fix something and release an update.”

“You fix, you test, you verify in as many situations as possible, you fix again if you need to, you submit the update to Microsoft, they verify the fix, etcetera," he continues.

"It goes on for a while. Feedback from our community has been great -- specifically our forums -- as it gives us information to work with to resolve these issues. As for when it will be done and released, we are working as hard as we can on it so we really appreciate everyone's patience and support.”

 

[Mejilan]

They never responded to the rather detailed email I sent them explaining my equipment/animal deletion bug. Here's hoping they can fix that one quickly, because after getting my Blue Knight to level 63 and beating the game, I lost all desire to continue playing after getting hit by that nasty bug.

 

[Domino Theory]

Assuming those 250K players are people who purchased the game then:

250,000x$15= $3,750,000 million dollars in revenue? Damn.

Spoiler

AND HURRY UP WITH THIS PATCH

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Assuming those 250K players are people who purchased the game then:

250,000x$15= $3,750,000 million dollars in revenue? Damn.

Spoiler

AND HURRY UP WITH THIS PATCH

It does cost money to make the game. Although seeing as how problematic it is, probably not that much.

 

[_Angelus_]

Patch it,I'll buy it. Just that simple. Otherwise they won't see a dollar on my money.


I don't need to see them brag about their sales when the game needs fixin'

 

[Deleted member 21120]

I don't need to see them brag about their sales when the game needs fixin'

this

I want four-player co-op to work.

 

[Giard]

I'm so buying this when I get my points for the dodge car thing...

I hope it'll be patched until then.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

that's like, what?...let's say $5 profit per title...$1.25mil? in 2 weeks?

i bet these arcade games have a steep tail, tho.

 

[Teknoman]

In the official topic, I posted the info from the dev blog about the fix. So far they seem to be nearly done with their extensive patch testing.

 

[StoOgE]

Good for them, both games are fantastic. They deserve the money, so they can keep giving me awesome content and more great art. I had meant to buy Alien Hominid HD but hadnt gotten around to it, but the ability to unlock the alien pushed me over the edge :lol

Clearly they need to patch Castle Crashers, but come on, its a very very small team and they put together a very good product. It will get fixed. I give them more breathing room than say EA on this kind of stuff.

Also, they need to patch Alien Hominid so I can see the bullets.

 

[X26]

wtf, it's STILL not fixed? what a fucking joke

 

[2 Minutes Turkish]

So I assume it glitched when I lost my stats for my red and blue character when I started a local co op game?

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

How many of those 250k can actually play it? 10, 15, 20 people?

 

[Uncle AJ]

Will play again once the patch is up. Red Knight needs MOAR POWAR

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I hope the patch fixes my problem with it.

I can't play Flower Field because the game complains that I've disconnected my HDD. I can play any level before that just fine, but the minute I try Flower Field it bitches that a connection was lost to the HDD and it's booting me back to XBLA.

I've tried redownloading the game, etc. It's pissing me off.

 

[Mr Killemgood]

I would say that it's pretty close, if not actually 250,000 units sold to players. The estimated numbers I use (over at VGC) have it at around 220,000 as of Saturday, and 240,000 as of today - which is pretty close to what they're stating.

Unless something wierd was struck, The Behemoth should be making between $10.30-$10.80 per unit sold. At 250k, that's $2,575,000-$2,700,000 off of the game. Not to mention the increased revenue from Alien Homnid, which has been pushing around 2,000-3,000 units since CC launched.

And the tail on CC is going to be great - The average title sells around 4 times whatever first month numbers are, in around 18 months to 2 years depending on WOM. That'd mean that CC will easily pass the 1 million mark in 18mo.

 

[jaydogg691]

This game needs to get patched before I play it again. For some reason when my friend tries to buy the monkey the game locks up and causes us to lose our progress. It's a really fun game, but these bugs need to get fixed.

 

[Mar]

250k? That's a lot of items lost.

Me and two friends tried to have a game the other night and it was a horrible experience. We got nowhere in a very large amount of time.

However I am happy to see it selling well. It may be very broken, but it's also very good.

 

[ampere]

It does cost money to make the game. Although seeing as how problematic it is, probably not that much.

Revenue =/= profits

 

[Sanjay]

Assuming those 250K players are people who purchased the game then:

250,000x$15= $3,750,000 million dollars in revenue? Damn.

Spoiler

AND HURRY UP WITH THIS PATCH

Microsoft take 30% of each sale.

 

[MrDaravon]

Patch it,I'll buy it. Just that simple. Otherwise they won't see a dollar on my money.


I don't need to see them brag about their sales when the game needs fixin'

This.

As of a couple days ago, I had two friends who successfully got refunds on the title a la Mr. Driller, 2 friends who have played a ton with no problems, and probably like 5 or 6 of us waiting for a patch to come out before even buying it. I'm glad it's doing well and I really want to play it, but I don't like sending the message that we'll buy broken shit and accept waiting for patches.

 

[poweld]

They never responded to the rather detailed email I sent them explaining my equipment/animal deletion bug. Here's hoping they can fix that one quickly, because after getting my Blue Knight to level 63 and beating the game, I lost all desire to continue playing after getting hit by that nasty bug.

That happened to me, too. Honestly, at that kind of level, you can just run through the game and collect stuff again. It's almost a little fun (it's what I did), and it doesn't take very long.

Though I totally get your frustration; I was pissed, and I refuse to play with my friends until they fix it :-/

 

[Ken Masters]

fuck those assholes celebrating the sales of a broken game


I spent $15 on the game and can't even play online for fear my save will be lost

 

[No_Style]

I haven't been keeping tabs on the bugs, but are they primarily online bugs or are there offline ones as well? I've been putting off playing the game with my brother until a patch was released...

 

[tokkun]

$3,750,000 million dollars

3.75 million million dollars dollars.......?

 

[IcebergSlim3000]

Alien Hominid was the third game I purchased after buying my 360. It's nice to know I played role in bringing out an excellent game. To bad that fuckers completely broken online.

 

[TAJ]

that's like, what?...let's say $5 profit per title...$1.25mil? in 2 weeks?

The Behemoth get the original 70-30 split, so $10.50 each, or $2,625,000.

 

[Label]

Kinda lost all intrest when I got hit by the bug when I had all the weapons + pets.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I just don't really see any reason to continue playing Castle Crashers. No other content, no other weapons, or loot or anything, same short levels over and over.

 

[wayward archer]

I just don't really see any reason to continue playing Castle Crashers. No other content, no other weapons, or loot or anything, same short levels over and over.

I'd like to play through it on the harder difficulty with 3 other people online. Wondering if that will ever be a possibility though. I fear that either the patch will take so long that nobody will care by the time it is released or it'll never fully get fixed.

 

[Mohonky]

I haven't been keeping tabs on the bugs, but are they primarily online bugs or are there offline ones as well? I've been putting off playing the game with my brother until a patch was released...

Well my game doesn't save.

 

[Ledsen]

There is a fix for the "losing all levels/eq" bug iirc, it hinges on you NOT starting a local game after you get hit (because the game will autosave and you can't get your shit back after that I think), then starting a new multiplayer game. Google it if you got hit.

edit:

http://www.giantbomb.com/castle-cra...e-lost-save-data-stats-weapons-orbs/35-13644/

If you crank up the game and discover your stats are reset... then DO NOT START A LOCAL GAME as this will overwrite your missing stats

follow these steps to retrieve your stats back:

-create an xbox LIVE castle crashers game

-sign in with your XL GamerTag

-create a match: i used these settings
-private slots 0
-maxplayers 4
-hidden characters (this maybe a *must* I haven't tested it though)

-then click create match

-toggle ready... then back all the way out to the main menu then try your local game again


This has been CONFIRMED to work

enjoy

 

[rezuth]

Assuming those 250K players are people who purchased the game then:

250,000x$15= $3,750,000 million dollars in revenue? Damn.

Spoiler

AND HURRY UP WITH THIS PATCH

Minus MS share and development cost I'll estimate that they only gained around 1.5-1.8million for it.

Edit: It is a great game.

 

[Orin GA]

The Behemoth: Castle Crashers Hits 250k Players, Fixes Coming #1

250K Players Suckered. Congrats!

 

[Psychotext]

250K Players Suckered. Congrats!

Some of us have never had a single problem playing the game. Superb fun.

 

[LiK]

Some of us have never had a single problem playing the game. Superb fun.

ditto, played with 4 guys with no problems a few times and it was awesome fun.

 

[gregor7777]

I'll give them my money as soon as I hear the issues are fixed.

 

[Victrix]

Patch the game, then crow about sales

 

[eznark]

Patch the god damn game so that I can finally play it!

 

[Orin GA]

Still Nothing? The castle crashers website has been down since the begining of time :lol Forget it guys, they took yer money to vegas :lol

 

[ToyMachine228]

Still Nothing? The castle crashers website has been down since the begining of time :lol Forget it guys, they took yer money to vegas :lol

Seriously this was the most over hyped XBLA game of all time. And the support has been terrible on top of it.

 

[Teknoman]

Still Nothing? The castle crashers website has been down since the begining of time :lol Forget it guys, they took yer money to vegas :lol

Actually its been up for awhile now. The patch has just been in the whole testing phase. Im expecting it anytime now though. Testing cant take THAT long.

The game is all kinds of awesome, but the data loss and online bugs are scaring people.

Though once its patched, I say we get some 4 player GAF games going.

On a side note, we still havent gotten the DN3d 8 player co-op games together.

 

[Lathentar]

Actually its been up for awhile now. The patch has just been in the whole testing phase. Im expecting it anytime now though. Testing cant take THAT long.

Oh yes it can. If the first couple of fixes don't work it can easily take this long.

 

[mrgone]

The last blog post was 17 days ago.. the problem's 6 weeks old. I dunno, I think it's getting to be THAT long

 

[Wurm]

Expect the patch around the same time they trot out the lame DLC to give the game a secondary sales boost. I lost a terrible amount of respect for Behemoth over this whole ordeal.

Hey, who knows. Maybe they have been on a plane to somewhere for 2 months.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

The Behemoth are never getting my money again. Fuck those guys, seriously.

'Hey, guys, we had a great 4 days at PAX, how you guys doing? Oh, our game is broken? Yeah, well expect a fix in about 8 weeks after we've got over our jet lag! LOLZ. Did we tell you about the great time we had a PAX while people were spending $10 on our broken game? No, well, here's a story...'

 

[chubigans]

Oh yes it can. If the first couple of fixes don't work it can easily take this long.

Well, Wipeout HD had multiple crash bugs and it had a patch in two weeks. Does the MS certification just take this long?

 

[harSon]

Well, Wipeout HD had multiple crash bugs and it had a patch in two weeks. Does the MS certification just take this long?

Wipeout HD was made by SCE Studio Liverpool. I'd say the difference in skill level, experience, and staff size is fairly profound.

 

[Meier]

Still Nothing? The castle crashers website has been down since the begining of time :lol Forget it guys, they took yer money to vegas :lol

I haven't played it since like the first week as I've been waiting for them to fix it. Sucks.

 

[Lathentar]

Well, Wipeout HD had multiple crash bugs and it had a patch in two weeks. Does the MS certification just take this long?

crashes are much easier to fix than online only save file corruption bugs on xbox live. That they didn't see in the first round of testing.