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Actual sales figures are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the games industry, but Yacht Club Games has posted the full story of developing the indie hit Shovel Knight from its initial Kickstarter campaign to first full month of release, complete with approximate sales figures on Wii U eShop and 3DS eShop in North America and on Steam for PC internationally (as an English-only release).

Yacht Club Games' post also provides extensive data on the expenses involved in developing a game and how far Shovel Knight's successful Kickstarter campaign went in covering costs, and the breakdown is certainly surprising; yet it's also very good to see, especially in light of some recent and highly public Kickstarter fiascos.

Although developing a game with such a tight budget can be very hard on game staff, this story has a happy ending. The sales figures given by Yacht Club Games are only approximate, but Shovel Knight had already exceeded sales projections in its first week of release, and is currently sitting at approximately 180,000 copies sold across all platforms — if you break that down on the percentages given, that's 48,600 on Wii U and 59,400 on 3DS. Once again, we do recommend you check out the full article.

Are you still holding out for the European/Australian eShop releases of Shovel Knight, or did you go to PC instead? Is a Shovel Knight 2 something you'd be willing to support in future or would you look for a different game in the same style from this developer next? Let us know!

[source yachtclubgames.com]