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Stardew Valley has grossed $1 million since its iOS debut three weeks ago.
Sensor Tower (via GamesIndustry.biz) reports that despite its £7.99 price tag, the farming game has grossed over a million dollars in less than a month whilst maintaining a 4.4 out of 5-star rating on Apple’s App Store.
Stardew Valley initially released on PC, and was later ported to consoles. The iOS release is the game’s first foray onto mobile devices and does not include any additional microtransactions, so all profit is generated by sales alone. According to Sensor Tower’s estimates, fans from the United States make up the majority of the game’s early players at 41 per cent of copies sold, with Japanese players accounting for 12 per cent of spending to date. 25 per cent of players accessed the cartoon farming sim via iPad rather than iPhone.
Talking about the game’s success to MCV, Stardew Valley’s creator Eric Barone – developing under the pseudonym ConcernedApe – said he spent four years developing the game, crafting it entirely by himself "from the first artwork to the soundtrack".
"I thought the game would do alright, but I had no idea it would reach this level of success," Barone said. "When you’ve been working alone on one game for many years, you lose your objectivity… I didn’t really know if it was a good game or not […] I think it’s a good game, but I’m also the type of person who is never satisfied with their work.
"The most challenging obstacles were psychological, social, and financial in nature. And the stress of having my professional and personal hopes all riding on one wildly ambitious, uncertain project. I had to convince myself and those around me that I was special, that I was truly destined for greatness and not just delusional."
