Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World were already two of the most successful games on the XBLIG platform, and yet its PC release managed to out-gross more than an entire year’s worth of XBLIG sales. We asked Zeboyd Games’ lead developer Robert Boyd about what that success means for the company, and what the future looks like for the developer. If you’d like to know more about the history of the company and the games’ developments, check out our previous interview.
Armless Octopus (AO): Can you fill us in or give us any details on how well exactly the PC release has done thus far?
Robert Boyd (RB): Due to our agreement with Steam, I can’t go into any great detail on our sales stats, other than to echo the statement that we made on our website – in less than a week on Steam, we made more revenue than we had made in the entirety of our time on XBLIG.
AO: What kinds of expectations did you have for it?
RB: Again, I can’t get into specifics but before launch, I set three marks for number of sales for July – a low mark that I thought we would definitely surpass, a mid mark that I thought would probably be around the amount we sold, and a high mark that I thought we probably wouldn’t surpass. Right now, we’re a little over the mid mark and we have about 10 days left in the month so we’re very pleased with how everything has turned out.
AO: Why do you think the game did so well when it hit Steam?
RB: I think it’s a combination of a number of factors: Good support from Steam (front page ad). Our strong review scores from the XBLIG versions. Releasing right after the big summer sale – few new games coming out, but people still wanted to get good deals. Releasing at the same time as another cheap indie RPG (I imagine people who were originally just going to buy Dredmor bought our game too and vice versa). Just to name a few.
AO: Do you think you could have achieved the success without the initial XBLIG release?
RB: No. To be honest, I don’t know that we could have even managed to convince Steam to distribute our games if we hadn’t been able to point at the positive reviews that the XBLIG version had gotten.
AO: Do you think that is the real value of XBLIG: as a way for budding developers to build a resume and gain experience?
RB: Yes, I think XBLIG is a great choice for new developers to gain experience and build a resume even if it might not be the best choice for actually making money.
AO: You only recntly moved into full-time game development; how does this success impact the future of Zeboyd Games?
RB: It doesn’t really affect our next game since we’ve been planning it and working on it for quite some time. It does reduce a lot of the stress on us since we won’t have to worry as much about bills and rent over the coming months. And if our next game is a success (which we hope and expect it to be), then there’s no reason why we couldn’t be much more ambitious with the scope and quality of our 4th game.
AO: Do you see Zeboyd expanding beyond its 2 current employees, or is that the ideal size for the projects you’d like to make?
RB: After we finish our next game, we may decide to expand a bit and add a few more team members. I don’t see us getting much bigger than half a dozen or so though.
AO: You’ve mentioned that your next project will come out for XBLIG and PC. Is that still the plan, and can you talk about that at all?
RB: Yes, the plan is that our next game will come out on XBLIG & PC simultaneous. It’s a comedy RPG and is scheduled for release later this year. I can’t say much more than though due to a nondisclosure agreement, but the game will probably be announced or at least teased in a few weeks.
AO: Is the new game based a wholly original work, or are you working with an existing IP?
RB: No comment. 
AO: Will the new game be similar in structure to BoD and CSTW?
RB: There will be a few similarities, but there will be more differences than there were between Breath of Death VII & Cthulhu Saves the World.
AO: In our previous interview you mentioned ideas for action RPGs, strategy games and Metroidvania-style games. Any idea when we’ll see the first non-RPG from Zeboyd?
RB: After our next game is done, I think we’ll take a break from RPGs and try something different.
AO: Obviously I’m asking you to speculate, but if you were to design a game like that, would it still be in the retro aesthetic with pixel art, etc.?
RB: We’re planning on sticking with pixel art.
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