The success of Slime Rancher 2 has far exceeded expectations for indie studio Monomi Park with an incredible 100,000 sales within the first 24 hours of release.
Since the early access release on September 22, Nick Popovich, Co-Founder, and CEO of Monomi Park, had what he described as a “kind of crazy pipe dream” for the game launch which involved selling 100,000 copies in the first 24 hours, ultimately the company achieved the total in under six hours! Popovich took to Twitter to announce the best sales day ever for the American indie studio “by a literal order of magnitude.”
The sequel to the 2017 game Slime Rancher features the return of the Beatrix LeBeau, who this time is tasked with exploring unfamiliar terrain as Rainbow Island and feeding the various slimes which inhabit the fantasy world.
While the original game was nominated for a series of accolades in 2017, including the category Best Indie Game and Xbox Game of the Year in the Golden Joystick Awards, it was ultimately unsuccessful. However, there is every chance the sequel could net an award for Monomi Park this time around.
The popularity of anthropomorphic protagonists
Clearly, the human-like slime in Slime Rancher 2 has contributed to the success of the game. Anthropomorphism, a phenomenon where human characteristics are given to inanimate objects or animals, is a popular device in video games. Amongst the countless examples are anthropomorphic protagonists dating back to Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Crash Bandicoot.
The use of this device for video games is now ubiquitous, and it is also employed to great effect in the iGaming industry as it allows game developers to create popular, fun characters in slots games on mobile casinos such as the pig in Squealin’ Riches and the animated bull in Wild Toro. These memorable characters can give slot titles the edge in highly competitive industries, in which many operators are active. There are various casinos to pick from, and all of them are viable by the mobile platform.
A commercial and critical success
The sales success of Slime Rancher 2 has also been backed up by critical acclaim with over 5,000 overwhelmingly positive game reviews on Steam, which means 96% of all reviews by gamers are positive.
Reflecting the increasing cross-media nature of the gaming industry, fans of the game can also purchase the original soundtrack composed by Harry Mack. He returns after the success of the 2017 version of the game soundtrack. It features 36 tracks consisting of a total of over three hours of music.
The original game was a resounding success for the indie game developer, selling over six million copies and has been played by over 15 million gamers, so Slime Rancher 2 has a secure base in which to flourish. Now there is every chance the sequel will eclipse those impressive figures and continue to reflect the remarkable work of Monomi Park.
The boom in sales will also give a boost to indie game developers which number many hundreds. It also shows that a stand-out hit can not only bring the work of independent developers to the attention of a wider audience, but it can also result in follow-up successes.
