Valve’s new hardware drew significant attention, yet the developers still managed to earn a little.
A malfunction in Steam’s algorithms left the creators of Planet Centauri without release notifications — despite having 138,000 wishlists, they sold only 581 copies.
Nearly a year later Valve admitted the mistake and, as compensation, offered to feature Planet Centauri in the Daily Deal. The developers accepted and selected a date. At the time they didn’t realize the company would once again complicate their plans.
In November Valve unveiled the Steam Machine and other devices. It so happened that the presentation took place on November 12 — the very date the Planet Centauri team picked.
Laurent Lechat explained the date “was chosen, essentially, at random” and added that “we were just unlucky, and we have to accept it.”
Still, the Daily Deal placement helped: on that day the game sold just over five thousand copies. That’s fewer than the sales spike they saw when reports about the wishlist bug circulated, and less than the developers had hoped for.
Even so, the outcome is a relief for a studio struggling financially. Lechat noted the proceeds will help finish their second project. The team doesn’t rule out returning to further develop Planet Centauri if their new 2D roguelike succeeds:
What may seem like a modest sum will actually be a huge help — it will sustain us for at least a year and allow us to finish our second game, which is currently in development.
Lechat admitted that, over time, he began to get the impression Planet Centauri might be “cursed.”
Source: iXBT.games