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Nikki and the Robots an indie platformer with cute graphics is going to be stopped due to low sales of the story Episodes.

Sad to see this:
QuoteWe – the Joyride Laboratories – released the Story Episodes to our game Nikki and the Robots in September. The good news is that we got some really good reviews and customer feedback. People seem to like the game and appreciate the work we put into it. The bad news: we didn't sell as much as we had hoped.


Because of that we have decided to stop working on the game. That also means there will be no further Story Episodes. We would like to apologize to all the people who bought the Story Episodes in hope of further episodes. We shared that hope, but we always knew there was a chance it wasn't going to happen. We are sorry and hope you still enjoyed the game.

The first game, the engine and art are open source, you can find the source info here. They have released story Episode 1 for pay what you want and that's where their low sales have come from.

Looking at their sales they got a total of €4520.67 before any deductions (the largest from Linux too), to me that is a quite low for more than 1 person to live on and develop games.

Trailer for episode 1:

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So why not show them so love and buy the first episode? It's pay what you want! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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11 comments

KIAaze Jan 28, 2013
Note that they are on Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=107105028
So maybe, once they get on Steam, they'll get more sales. :)
But the main thing I'm surprised about, is that they never got onto Desura, except for a small announcement there, i.e. no game page.
Liam Dawe Jan 28, 2013
I first thought they wanted to stick to pay what you want so Desura wasn't the right place...but then to be trying to get on Steam too...not sure why they aren't on Desura now?
Ganoo Jan 28, 2013
Too bad they didn't go for the humble bundle submission, it could have saved them.

I feel as if in this case the lack of promotion killed them.
avarisclari Jan 28, 2013
I feel as if in this case the lack of promotion killed them.
I have to agree with this, as I didn't even know about it till now.
Lop Jan 28, 2013
Too bad they didn't go for the humble bundle submission, it could have saved them.

I feel as if in this case the lack of promotion killed them.

Too bad they didn't win the lottery, that was stupid of them! The Humble Bundle is probably the most difficult platform to get on, Steam is easy compared to that, even before Greenlight.
tc Jan 28, 2013
Is €4500 at all that bad for a _first episode_ of a pixel side-scroller with little promotion, without iOS/Android version, without Desura, without HIB (or any other indie bundle), without Steam?
Sparr Jan 28, 2013
I bought this game, but am constantly turned off by the ridiculously long intro level.
avarisclari Jan 29, 2013
Ha, finally had a chance to go to steam greenlight, I'm voting despite being turned off by 3 typos in their own trailer.
MyGameCompany Jan 29, 2013
But the main thing I'm surprised about, is that they never got onto Desura, except for a small announcement there, i.e. no game page.

Releasing on Desura might not have helped their sales. My Dirk Dashing and Rick Rocket games have had minimal sales on Desura, despite generally positive comments and reviews.

I agree more promotion might have helped, but it seems to be a lot harder for indie games to get exposure these days - at least in my experience. They might very well have been submitting their game to various sites, like I have, but running into the same result I have been - nobody wants to report on my games.
Liam Dawe Jan 29, 2013
The problem is in my eyes 90% of indie games are very very similair maybe not in setting but in terms of general gameplay, like we have had a massive influx of puzzle and platform, but not many good RPG, RTS or FPS games.
MyGameCompany Jan 30, 2013
Larger games like those cost more to make, in terms of both time and resources, especially for an indie. Puzzle and platform games are a bit cheaper and easier to make - especially nowadays, when people seem to only want to pay a dollar or two for a game. At that price, all I can afford to make anymore are Pong clones.

Still, I've been considering making a RPG. People seem to be willing to pay more for those. But I'm concerned about the time it would take me to make the kind of game I want to make. It takes me 2 years just to make a single Dirk Dashing platformer game!
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