Steam 9/10 game made free for all because nobody was buying it

This extremely well-reviewed Steam game will be free to download and keep for everyone on the platform, because, sadly, it sounds like barely anyone bought it.

Indie game development is, the majority of the time, quite a thankless task.

There’s always the chance that your project could blow up overnight, suddenly causing you to rocket into the Steam charts and rake in the cash. Titles like Stardew Valley, Among Us and Terraria are great examples.

The problem is that it’s far more likely your game will simply fly under the radar. Indie devs, especially those who self-publish, simply don’t have the marketing budget that AAA publishers do.

Your game can be amazing. It can get borderline perfect reviews. And still, there’s a good chance you’ll only sell a few hundred copies (if you’re lucky).

This preamble waffle sadly brings me to today’s example: Castle of Blackwater.

The game is, by all accounts, pretty damn good. 96% of the reviewers on Steam have given it a positive review, and it's easy to see why after watching some gameplay videos.

It also has an all-time player count peak of 69. Bit of an issue if you’re a multiplayer-focused game.

That’s why the devs have decided to take matters into their own hands, by announcing in a post on Steam yesterday that the title is going free-to-play as of today.

I did just double-check to make sure, and as of writing, the game isn’t actually free yet. The devs did specifically state that it will be free today however, so you might want to check back in an hour or two for them to update the page.

I wholeheartedly wish them the best of luck moving forward. Without indie devs, the games industry would be far worse off than it already is. I hope this leads the Castle of Blackwater devs to further success down the line.