In a week that's been overshadowed by premium releases from the likes of Gameloft (N.O.V.A. 2, Shadow Guardian), Square Enix (Lara Croft), Firemint (Real Racing 2), and EA (Mortal Kombat 3), and then further confused by EA's decision to have 68 games in its catalog priced at 99c, it's not been a good time for an indie developer to release an unbranded game.
Yet, demonstrating the power of targeting a niche genre and building a community prior to launch, Aralon: Sword and Shadow, a hardcore RPG from tiny indie outfits Crescent Moon and Galoobeth Games, has bucked the trend.
High price, high demand
Thanks to a pricetag of $6.99, the universal app peaked in the UK top gross iPhone chart at #6 (#22 in the US), and #10 in the top grossing iPad chart.
To-date, it's sold over 10,000 units since it was released just over 24 hours ago, 1,600 of which came in the first hour.
"With all huge releases coming out at the same time, we had no idea Aralon would make it into the top 10," said Josh Presseisen, Crescent Moon's founder and creative director.
"For a small company, basically a few guys who work from home and communicate via skype, this is absolutely unbelieveable. We are all so happy that all of the hard work paid off."
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Top Stories
News
10 hours, 47 minutes ago
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Views E09 - Supercell's Squad Busters goes global, Embracer Group splits, and Apple's Vision Pro flops
News
Apr 26th, 2024
Week in Views - Squads busted, Apple crushed, War zoned and Snoozin' with the Snorlax…
Feature
Apr 26th, 2024
Speaker Spotlight: Dubai Future Foundation's Faisal Kazim on leading Dubai's gaming charge
Events
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 23rd, 2024
Supercell’s Squad Busters soft launches today with over 100,000 Google Play downloads
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024