Thomas Was Alone Sells 700,000 Copies

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Thomas Was Alone Sells 700,000 Copies

Mike Bithell's indie title Thomas Was Alone has managed to sell 700,000 copies across various platforms.

Mike Bithell, the creator of the indie game Thomas Was Alone recently revealed that the game, which has no received no small amount of critical acclaim, has been selling pretty well too. Speaking to Joystiq he confirmed that rectangle populated platformer had, to date, sold nearly 700,000 copies. While perhaps not a success on the triple-A scale, it's a substantial achievement for an indie game, especially one that was, according to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123481-Thomas-Was-Alone-Jumps-to-PS3-and-Vita>Bithell himself, made pretty much on a whim to cure some boredom. The 700,000 copies were sold across an eclectic mix of platforms that include PC, Mac, Linux PS3 and Vita. Bithell confirmed that the total doesn't include any copies gamers received for free via PlayStation Plus.

The runaway success of Thomas Was Alone has, in turn, allowed Bithell to quit his day job and focus on his next game, the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126786-Thomas-Was-Alone-Creator-Turns-Up-The-Volume>stealth-centric Volume. While we're sure Bithell hopes to see Volume reach similar heights of success, we'll have to wait and see if it can accomplish that. One could make the argument that Thomas Was Alone had a unique charm owed in no small part to the simplicity of its visuals and gameplay. From what's been shown of Volume, it will be a more complex game, perhaps losing some of the pick up and play qualities of its predecessor. Only time can tell however, if that will be the case and, either way, we're still excited to see what Bithell delivers in the future.

Source: Joystiq


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[J Tyran]

Kinda feel guilty for getting it free on PS+, its a great game. Really charming in an undefinable way, character development with plain boxes and geometric shapes sounds odd but they made it happen.

The soundtrack is excellent too.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Good on Mike Bithell. He made a simple, and great game, and it deserved the success that it has received.

Seems like a good guy too, at least from what I've seen on Twitter and whenever he's on NorthernLion's streams.

 

[Owlslayer]

This is pretty good news, i think the game deserves this. It was indeed very charming and fun, I liked it a lot.

 

[alj]

Thats an impressive amount, but the fact that one of the best games of the past few years only sells 700k and MW3 can sell 6.5 million in 24 hours makes me die a little inside every time i think about it, come on games you are better than that stop buying shovel-ware .

Its nice that mike is now able to follow his passion and leave his job , he deserves it. It always impresses me how a handful of guys working on next to nothing can make a game more engaging and have better characterization than multi million dollar projects by so called "professionals" well done mike amazing game deserve every bit of credit you get.

 

[Eternal_Lament]

I guess good for him, but honestly I'm not actually a fan of Thomas was Alone. I thought it started out interesting, and the sound design was top-notch. However, I thought as it progressed, the actual puzzle sections became less "puzzles" and more "stacks-on-stacks for stairs" I also don't get why people cream their jeans over "DEM CHARACTERS! DAT DEVELOPMENT! DEM FEELS!" To be honest, I just couldn't really get any emotional resonance from them. I honestly believe that a good number of people out there only like Thomas was Alone simply because it's an indie game, and therefore it must be inherently better when it comes to story/characters/feels, or something like that

 

[Kiyeri]

I'm glad that #MikeBithell has done so well. I've recommended Thomas Was Alone to basically everyone I know who could play it, it's such a charming little game. Can't wait to see what he comes out with next.