Untitled Goose Game's September launch was a pretty unusual one for an indie game, not least because it was gathering as much attention from fans and media - if not more - than major releases appearing at the same time. After initially releasing and excelling on Switch and PC, the game soon took flight on PS4 and Xbox One; it's since been confirmed that the pesky goose has shifted more than a million copies.
After it had surpassed just 100,000 sales, the game's co-creator Nico Disseldorp said that the studio can "go on and keep making video games as long as we like now". We can only imagine how the team must feel now that the game has achieved ten times that figure, but composer Dan Golding has touched upon the surprise and bewilderment its success has placed upon them.
Here's what he had to say talking to GamesBeat:
“It was this weird, several stage process where for the first few days, almost the first whole week, we’re like, ‘Yeah, cool, people like this game. That’s great. It’s getting good reviews'. Then I remember one morning I woke up and Chrissy Teigen had tweeted out a photo of her and John Legend [buying the game] and was just — I have no frame of reference to understand what’s happening. And I still don’t, really. It’s just been kind of weird from then on out.”
So why was it so successful? Golding has a thought on that, too:
“I think there’s something about the game that speaks to this moment in time where the whole weight of the world often seems to be crushing people. And this game is just about a goose, you know? Nothing more, nothing less. If the game has done anything, it’s managed to create a little space of relief, which I think is fantastic."
We'd have to agree. Sometimes you just need to forget about the world and enjoy something a little silly and Untitled Goose Game can provide just that.
Have you taken the time to check out Untitled Goose Game? Do you think we'll see a sequel or some DLC in the future? Tell us below.
[source venturebeat.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 31
I mean, it's a game where you're a goose annoying the living daylights out of a village, how could it not be successful?
That's a looooot of money made.
Honk! Honk! Honk! Need to play this
I'm very impressed to see a game produced primarily on public funding initiatives do this well.
I enjoyed it a lot myself as well. It's very accessible to most demographics, and you get exactly what you're promised. At least, I haven't yet heard anyone complain that they felt cheated. ^^
I have virtually murdered billions in 35 years of gaming. But I've never felt so guilty as when I made that little boy trip over into a puddle.
Perhaps, the success lies within the fact that it isn't the millionth call of duty clone, or a rogue-like or a "Zelda-inspired" clones we have all over the digital shops.
It's almost like a breath of fresh air. The premise is so simple, yet it feels so endearing to be a goose that is a jerk.
I know I sound like a broken record parroting this in nearly every article, but physical plllllllllllleeeeeeeeassssssseeeee!!!!
I'm probably going to pour 20+ hours into this 2 hour game.
I spend more time wrecking carnage in these sorts of sandbox games than actually fulfilling objectives, so I can see myself coming back to it repeatedly.
@Pod : Government funded no less!
Wet pleased for them and happy to see originality and creativity rewarded with sales. I still holding out for a physical release though.
i'm struggling to process what people see in this game
@Keyser815 You monster! XD
@Silly_G
If you could manage all the challenges from this game in 2 hours, I'd be very impressed. It's easily a 5-10 hour game for most players. ^^
@KBuckley27
If you haven't played it, I completely understand. It's not easy to convey just why it's so rewarding to trap a fussy market attendant inside her own garage.
It deserves it. It's different/unique.
I tried to find it at the shops but it's untitled.
I haven't played it yet (hoping for a physical release or waiting for a sale) but ever since I first saw the first trailer, with the silly gameplay, funny music, very pleasing simple art style, and the promise of playing an animal bullying humans, I knew I had to play it one day, and I know I'm going to love it.
Its because of hives mind kids who want to like it just because its meme-y. It's not even that good of a game lol. But ppl only like it because it's a funny reddit meme.
I wanted to cause a gas leak with the Goose in the Village, but no luck.
@Shambo wait for a sale. Not worth 20 bucks when those 20 bucks can get you. A water game like Hollow Knight, Castle Crashers, Celeste, or Undertale which re all cheaper and could be played longer (Goode Game has very little to offer and can be beaten in 2 hours, 4 to 100 percent). Also these games were all made by a team of less than 10 people! Goose Game had almost 40 people working on it! Just get another game or wait for a sale of 15 bucks. Heck I would say the game isnt even worth 15. Maybe 10 bucks
@BANJO different and unique doeant equal good tho.
@PickledKong64 Someone pissed in your cereal mate?
sometimes a game with a simple concept can become succesful because of it's own merit.
The game became a meme, that's why it has done so well. I expect others to follow this model.
First indie to liscense Shrek wins.
@khululy nah. People like it solely for memes on god. I have piss in my cereal every morning. That's how I like it
@Trajan lets do this
@PickledKong64 Shrek has to recover the Obama prism from an evil Thomas the tank engine.
@Trajan while teaming up with thanos
I find the game quite relaxing and charming. I guess that makes me part of the 'hive mind'.
@MaoMao
Or just someone that likes the game/concept of it & doing you. I mean wouldn't it be just as hive minded to listen to a cluster of people telling you not to bother with a game that you haven't played, but won't give a chance because they said so? It's funny because when I say something like that concerning the overrated hype of games like god of war or tlou I'll get reamed out by people because apparently can't have such an opinion LOL. Even when I've spent my own hard-earned money and/or precious time on those overhyped titles.
Yet nobody brings up all the fanboy memes & reddit d**ck riding that went on when the media was giving steady fellatio to those games. I guess it differs depending on who it's coming from and the budget or something I guess? Thing is I never even saw any memes surrounding the game or even knew that it was meme worthy until that person started talking about it here. And not an avid Reddit attendee at all, so don't know about any traction the title may have gained there.
However, I was unterested in it the moment I saw it & it piqued my interest in that Indie showcase. Ironically enough, I kind of forgot about the game until I read this article. And I've now became even more interested in it again once the person started going on about it actually having memes made about it. Now I'm wanting to check it out even more lol.
@PickledKong64
Talk about something that would be Meme-y and reddit trending LOL.
@PickledKong64 Yeah I rarely pay over 10 (€) for a game, let alone a digital version, and I heard it was short, and I do measure a game's value by (fun time + fun level) / price. Not that I can put a number on that, but you get the idea.
I have several rescued animals to look after, plenty of work doing just that, and I can't ignore real animals to play as a virtual goose to annoy virtual humans. I would give my left little finger to always have access to such an experience in real life though.
@Shambo lol good luck man
Golding says that the game is just about a goose? There goes my 9 hour video essay on how the game is a masterpiece of political allegory where the goose represents meritocratic bureaucracy and how it harrasses the working class with all encompassing regulations.
Unless... Golding is being esoteric and hiding his true message behind statements that it doesn't exist! My scholarly career is saved!
(I'm kidding, of course. Tone and the internet, good to be careful)
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