Dev of slept-on tactical RPG says it "sold badly" despite glowing reviews: "My next project will be more focused on 'Does this sell'"

Back in February, we instantly fell in love with the demo for "simultaneous turn-based" tactics game Arco. The full game finally launched on Steam and Nintendo Switch on August 15 to rave reviews – 98% positive on Steam, a 9/10 in Edge Magazine, and high praise from a suite of other critics. But in an illustration of the volatile indie games market, its creators say the game has "sold badly" – so badly that developer Franek laments that "making under minimum wage is embarrassing. Even if it means you get to make games."

In a post on Twitter, McPixel creator Sos Sosowksi argued that "it feels like indies are making the same three genres, and AAA are just remastering the same three games over and over" and advised devs to "make new stuff." The conversation began with a post from Antichamber creator Alexander Bruce, who shared a brief rap which essentially speedruns years of commentary on trends and talking points in indie development, from "what the market wants" to the value of "ideas you've never seen." Sharing Sosowski's input, Franken reasons that making new stuff sounds like "fun advice until you have to sell your game without a target audience and you got rent to pay." 

"We made something new. Our game has been well rated by critics and players but it sold badly. We'd get more sales copying an already well established genre. Still, you have to make new stuff. As soon as you stop making new things the work stops being creative. Either way, my next project will [definitely] be more focused on 'Does this sell' [because] making under minimum wage is embarrassing. Even if it means you get to make games."

Developer Super Mega Team agreed with Franken, theorizing that "exactly the same thing happened with Knight Witch," a lovingly illustrated shoot-'em-up Metroidvania released in 2022. "We all want to innovate and explore new and uncharted territories, but sometimes the audience is just not there despite the public demands for originality." 

Other developers, like the