14 DAY TRIAL // The creator of the indie rogue like The Binding of Isaac has announced that the game has managed to sell close to 450,000 copies since launch, much more than the developers though it would.
Edmund McMillen, the developer of Binding of Isaac, said in an interview with IndieGames that he “didn’t think people would want it, in all honestly.
“I had to shop it around to a bunch of different developers, and say like ‘Do you think I could sell this?’, because I thought it was way too weird, I thought the content was too disturbing and creepy, I thought it would just rub too many people the wrong way, and I thought the design was just too hardcore for any kind of mass amount of people to enjoy.”
The developer says that initially he even thought that he should release the game for free after working on it for about a week.
McMillen added, “Permadeath is very discouraging, that’s why roguelikes are very niche and small. There’s very specific people who play them. There’s another key thing too, what traditional roguelikes, that use permadeath like that – most of those are free.
“I came to the conclusion that I’d put it up for $5, and if people don’t like it they don’t have to buy it. Then it just fucking blew up. I didn’t know, I didn’t expect it.”
The indie game creator says that the upcoming expansion for The Binding of Isaac, called The Wrath of the Lamb, will allow fans of the experience to try a whole new area, which is set to serve as a final ending sequence, and will deliver an alternate difficulty, which is aimed at the hardcore audience.
The Binding of Isaac is quick and ruthless when it comes to player mistakes but also charming in execution and fair when it comes to the challenges it delivers.