After a 97% "Very Positive" Steam launch for his platformer about a tortoise and a duck, indie dev says it took fans 1 week to pay for his wedding and dog's future medication, but it's barely been enough to break even

The developer behind the new '90s-inspired platformer Windswept is celebrating small wins after the game's launch garnered almost 300 largely positive reviews, although the reality of the dev's financial situation could be a little daunting to would-be indie developers.

Windswept is an exceedingly charming-looking platformer starring a duck named Marbles and a tortoise named Checkers, billed as a "buddy" adventure where you can play in either single-player or local split-screen co-op mode. It launched on November 11 and has since attracted a modest 287 Steam reviews, 97% of which are classified as positive and earning the game a coveted 'Very Positive' rating on the platform overall. And while it's hard to see that as a negative for small independent developer Weatherfell, the profit earned by lead developer PeekingBoo has been barely enough to make ends meet.

In a tweet sent out a week after the game's launch, PeekingBoo said it took just one week for sales to help pay for his wedding, repairs for a bathroom that flooded more than a year ago, a new dryer, and his dog Nugget's allergy meds. At the time, he said the next step was just to break even.

It's no surprise that a developer's debut game with less than 300 reviews isn't making anyone rich, but PeekingBoo's candid insight into the financial struggle indie developers have to deal with is a reality check for me, as someone who's long dreamt of making my own game some day. It's also worth noting that Windswept is available on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox, in addition to Steam and the Epic Games Store, which further underscores just how difficult it is to turn a profit as a small game dev.

On the bright side, PeekingBoo did provide an update as recently as November 30, 19 days after Windswept's launch, that he's since "broke even," which essentially means he's made as much money as he spent to make the game. From there, it's all profit, baby, although it's a massive question whether it'll be enough to sustain not only his personal needs and the needs of his family, but also future game development efforts.

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