How many people have bough the long dark?

[KVhors]

Ive always wondered how much Money has been put into this game, its always made me reall curious, i mean, With pateron it must be a decent amount. Oviously needed to pay the website and such, but thats not much. Curiosity intensifys--

[IFIYGD]

http://steamspy.com/search.php?s=The+Long+Dark
Around 1 million it appears, keeping in mind SteamSpy only shows Stean sales, and has a fairly large margin of ± shown. So, not sure how accurate it is. But it als does not show how many polayers bought the console Early Access version on XBone. And it does not break down how many bought at full price, and how many bought on sale.

[KVhors]

Holy ♥♥♥♥. That would mean that, all of the owners, plus even being lets say aroud 15$ for each, thats around est. $13,990,860 Holy...... just.... omg... Thats not even close just a 15$ per copy estamate its definitly way more....

Gee hinterland you must pay your team hansomly!

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by Kovy_the_neigher:

Holy ♥♥♥♥. That would mean that, all of the owners, plus even being lets say aroud 15$ for each, thats around est. $13,990,860 Holy...... just.... omg... Thats not even close just a 15$ per copy estamate its definitly way more....

Gee hinterland you must pay your team hansomly!

You forget that every business has overhead costs. For a game development studio? Salaries for each team mamber, costs of any outside cotracted work, maintinence costs for all equipment and tech compnents, cost of maintianing a brick and mortar office (including utilities, storage, plumbing, electrical and other repairs, etc.), cost of game engine lisences and aset packs, travel costs, advertising costs, taxes, shipping costs, mailing, promoitional costs, the list goes on.

My business looks great, with annual intake of 7 figures, but after all overhead costs and expenses, I and my hsband/business partner, and our 12 employees make 5 figure, solid Middle Class incomes, not Upper Middle Class, but solid Middle Class (US reckonings). People seem to forget there are a ton of expenses you don't see or consider, for any business. I am sure that Hinterland is doing well, but not "rolling in dough" like a huge AAA studio like Blizzard, Microsoft, or Ubisoft. Net income vs. gross income are 2 very different beasts.

[Frau Blücher]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by Kovy_the_neigher:

Holy ♥♥♥♥. That would mean that, all of the owners, plus even being lets say aroud 15$ for each, thats around est. $13,990,860 Holy...... just.... omg... Thats not even close just a 15$ per copy estamate its definitly way more....

Gee hinterland you must pay your team hansomly!

You forget that every business has overhead costs. For a game development studio? Salaries for each team mamber, costs of any outside cotracted work, maintinence costs for all equipment and tech compnents, cost of maintianing a brick and mortar office (including utilities, storage, plumbing, electrical and other repairs, etc.), cost of game engine lisences and aset packs, travel costs, advertising costs, taxes, shipping costs, mailing, promoitional costs, the list goes on.

My business looks great, with annual intake of 7 figures, but after all overhead costs and expenses, I and my hsband/business partner, and our 12 employees make 5 figure, solid Middle Class incomes, not Upper Middle Class, but solid Middle Class (US reckonings). People seem to forget there are a ton of expenses you don't see or consider, for any business. I am sure that Hinterland is doing well, but not "rolling in dough" like a huge AAA studio like Blizzard, Microsoft, or Ubisoft. Net income vs. gross income are 2 very different beasts.

and don't forget Steam takes a hefty cut right off the top. i hear it's ~30%.

[Critical Jim]

gabe newell is rolling around naked in a pile of cash

[ernestww]

I paid something like $20 cdn about three years ago. That is some cheap entertainment! I almost feel like I've cheated them :)

783 hours...you think I would have achieved more - but I have a careless play style LOL...

[markwars]

I bought TLD twice...once on steam and once on Xbox. Play them both regularly and love them. Best $40 I have ever spent on a game.

[AAAARGH!]

I am sure you can find their published financial figures pretty easily. The main thing at this point is that the company has enough cash to cover its costs and finish the game. Given that the game started with a modest crowdfunding campaign, I'd say they are doing very well.

[ssweet]

I didn't know what I was getting when I bought it. And now, with near 100 hrs in, I realize that's more than I've played/enjoyed many titles for $60. I'd happily throw in another $20-$40 to support the devs. (not directly related to OP I suppose... sorry)

[KVhors]

hehe im kinda jellous of hinterland lol

[AAAARGH!]

Originally posted by ssweet:

I'd happily throw in another $20-$40 to support the devs.

Oh you will. We all will. It's my understanding that they are going to release the rest of the game as a series of episodes for individual sale. It's a great idea. They got us all hooked first...

I suspect they learned a thing or two from the epic success/failure of Firewatch.

[Campo Santo made a beautiful game that should have been a single episode in a series (ca. 3 hour play through, totally linear, almost cinematic). Instead of making it last, they sloppily stitched what should could have been half a dozen separate plots together into one story and then burned all of their narrative bridges at the end (pun intended). Epic beauty, but almost zero long term playability.]

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by flaviusrex:

Originally posted by ssweet:

I'd happily throw in another $20-$40 to support the devs.

Oh you will. We all will. It's my understanding that they are going to release the rest of the game as a series of episodes for individual sale. It's a great idea. They got us all hooked first...

I suspect they learned a thing or two from the epic success/failure of Firewatch.

[Campo Santo made a beautiful game that should have been a single episode in a series (ca. 3 hour play through, totally linear, almost cinematic). Instead of making it last, they sloppily stitched what should could have been half a dozen separate plots together into one story and then burned all of their narrative bridges at the end (pun intended). Epic beauty, but almost zero long term playability.]

I have to agree with you about Firewatch. The game was beautiful (and the reasons why many comapred the artwork to that of The Long Dark was obvious), it had some good moments of levity and tension. But almost zero replayability. I did play it trough a second time, to get 2 achievements i had missed the first time (The Turtle and the Raccon). And I changed my actions and responses. The game gave minor changes, but it was so scripted and linear, after 1 small change, it was right back to the same linear story. And the Video Tour they released afterward, was simply a chance to go into some spots i didn;t before. With no big "aha" moments.

The Long Dark however, gives me a different game, with each Sandbox start. And my anticipation for the Story mode, Season and Episodes, increases each time i dies in Sandbox and start a new run. I really, really hope that they gave more to the "choices matter" aspect of Story mode than Firewatch did. I want different outcomes possible if I make very different choices. I love Sandbox. but if Story mode allows me to replay and have different endings and outcomes, yeap. I'm droping cash for the Seasons and Episodes down the road.

[AAAARGH!]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

I have to agree with you about Firewatch. The game was beautiful (and the reasons why many comapred the artwork to that of The Long Dark was obvious), it had some good moments of levity and tension. But almost zero replayability. I did play it trough a second time, to get 2 achievements i had missed the first time (The Turtle and the Raccon). And I changed my actions and responses. The game gave minor changes, but it was so scripted and linear, after 1 small change, it was right back to the same linear story. And the Video Tour they released afterward, was simply a chance to go into some spots i didn;t before. With no big "aha" moments.

Yeah I just bought it and played through it a few days ago. I enjoyed it, but it was like watching a film where you have to do all of the walking for the characters. It was just a suspense story, a sort of digital dime novel. Playing it twice serves no purpose because you know what happens in the end, and the little decisions you make along the way have no effect. I don't regret buying it, but I got just under 7 hours of game play for my money, whereas I am at 172 hours in TLD.

[Critical Jim]

Originally posted by flaviusrex:

Originally posted by ssweet:

I'd happily throw in another $20-$40 to support the devs.

Oh you will. We all will. It's my understanding that they are going to release the rest of the game as a series of episodes for individual sale. It's a great idea. They got us all hooked first...

I suspect they learned a thing or two from the epic success/failure of Firewatch.

[Campo Santo made a beautiful game that should have been a single episode in a series (ca. 3 hour play through, totally linear, almost cinematic). Instead of making it last, they sloppily stitched what should could have been half a dozen separate plots together into one story and then burned all of their narrative bridges at the end (pun intended). Epic beauty, but almost zero long term playability.]

Incorrect. There will be a "season" of 5 or so episodes, all of which will be free to those those who purchased the game. The next season, should there be one, will have to be purchased, but it is a standalone; Long Dark 2 if you will.

[AAAARGH!]

Originally posted by Critical Jim:

Incorrect. There will be a "season" of 5 or so episodes, all of which will be free to those those who purchased the game. The next season, should there be one, will have to be purchased, but it is a standalone; Long Dark 2 if you will.

Ahh yes that's what I read. Are you sure it's free for all current game owners? I read the list of people who will get it for free, but wasn't sure if it included all current owners.