The first Hello Neighbor game has sold over 100,000 copies in a single week and broken its previous Steam player peak a whole eight years after it first launched out of Early Access. How? Its publisher says that it's been investing in the stealth-horror series the entire time, and its recent success is just a "direct result of a strategy we embarked on a decade ago."
Publisher tinyBuild's CEO Alex Nichiporchik shares the incredibly impressive stats in a long, detailed blog posted online. Hello Neighbor first held playtests almost a decade ago before hitting 1.0 in 2018, but December 2025 was actually the game's strongest December ever in terms of sales as it moved around 60,000 copies.
Nichiporchik explains that momentum for the series in general was reaching a fever pitch because of a variety of factors: several mods recently went viral online, the game's animated show seems to be popping off, and its mobile port still gets millions of monthly downloads. That all laid the groundwork for Hello Neighbor's recent 90% Steam discount, which moved another 100,000 copies in just a week.
"There is a lot to unpack here," Nichiporchik writes. "I've been saying for years that traditional indie publishing is dead. It's not a sustainable business model for devs nor publishers. In video games, value gets unlocked over years and often decades, whereas the traditional business model focuses on mostly new game IPs and short-term profits. When you have a hit on your hands – and it's usually a new video game IP – it's critical to build an infrastructure that supports longevity."
The CEO then points to outside examples, such as Stardew Valley and PUBG's decade-long runs of incredible popularity. "In 30 years, we've had 30 Resident Evil games (counting remakes) with the latest one becoming a record setter for the franchise," he adds. "How many Mario games have you played?"
Nichiporchik also notes that it's "statistically easier to get from say $1m in revenue to $10m, than from $0 to $1m." Essentially, it's better to invest in a hit game and multiply revenue than to start from scratch and hope you can capture lightning in a bottle twice.
"And value can unlock over decades in a franchise. Resident Evil 9 was the best launch of the series, which had a lot of ups and downs over the past 30 years. This is why we're seeing so many reboots in Hollywood, and so many remasters of older video games. It's also why whenever you look at a digital storefront's top sales charts, there's always a few 'ever green' hits there," he adds.
Hello Neighbor isn't the loudest success story in the indie space, but it's quietly become a pretty big deal. The Hello Neighbor animated show is about to kick off a third season, the book series it spawned has sold over five million copies, it has a very successful board game, and that's without even mentioning the eight other sequel, prequel, and spin-off games set in the same universe. Nichiporchik's blog is full of other interesting tidbits, so it's well worth a full read.
For now, check out the best horror games worth playing in 2026.
