Gunpoint, the stealth hacking game from Suspicious Developments, is already successful enough for its creator to make games full-time instead of trying to find a job in the industry, he said in a blog post today.
According to Gunpoint writer and designer Tom Francis, the game made back its direct development costs — a $30 purchase of Game Maker 8 — within 64 seconds of going up for pre-order May 27. Shortly before the game’s full launch June 3, pre-orders had brought in enough revenue for Francis to go full-time as a developer, and today, 15 days later, he said, “I quit my job. In fact, I think I have quit jobs, as a concept.”
Francis began making Gunpoint three years ago, intending to use it to anchor his portfolio for finding work with a game studio. “But designing it has been so creatively satisfying that I no longer want [a job], and so commercially successful that I’ll never need one,” he said.
Now that Francis has the ability to make games “with total creative freedom,” his next step is to bring Gunpoint to more platforms with the help of outside contractors — the game is currently available only on Windows, and he’s looking for people to implement Steam Workshop support, convert the game to Game Maker Studio, port it to Mac and Linux and handle tech support for all three versions. That would free him up to add a few other features to Gunpoint, including customizable controls, and start working on a new game.
Gunpoint is available for $10 on its website and $9.99 on Steam.
Reblogged from: polygon.com
