In all the excitement of System Shock 2‘s release on GOG, you may have missed another title debuting on the service. Yes, among it all was Zafehouse: Diaries, developed by Screwfly Studios, of which I represent one-half.
If you haven’t read my other posts about Diaries, that’s OK, all you need to know is that it’s a zombie strategy game we released in late September of last year, one that took longer to develop a head of steam than we thought it would.
For indie developers, acceptance onto GOG represents an entirely new level of exposure. In terms of size, it’s second only to Steam and the best indicator we have to judge the success we might see on Valve’s digital juggernaut.
While I can’t provide specific numbers, I can say GOG has redefined our expectations. In the top-seller charts, we’re currently ranked #2 in the Indie category and #6 in the Strategy category (comfortably nuzzled between Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and Dungeon Keeper 2).
In the last few weeks, we have noticed a shift in how we go about things. Where once we’d provide review copies to (almost) anyone, we’ve started to be more discerning. We’ve been approached by bundle organisers, but instead of being desperate to be a part of whatever we can, we’re in a position to weigh the pros and cons.
Yet, even with our growing reputation, the final hurdle will remain Steam.
I wish I could say things are progressing well, but I can’t. We’ve essentially stagnated on Greenlight. The difference is that last year, I thought not getting past this crowd-sourced approval process would be the death of us. Now, I feel it’s still important, but alternatives do exist and you can enjoy a degree of success without it.
Zafehouse: Diaries [GOG]
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