Skip to content
Dudelings: A Postmortem

Dudelings: A Postmortem

On May 6th, 2024 we launched out game Dudelings: Arcade Sportsball on Steam. At launch, the game featured:

  • Three game modes
    • Four unique playfields
      • Multiple ball types
        • Various powerups
          • Customizable rules
            • And an amazing soundtrack by The Brothers Nylon.

              In the first week we only sold about 200 units (including the soundtrack). This was less than 4% of our most conservative first week projections. Needless to say, a disappointment.

              I was hoping that we'd be able to drum up more sales with a few updates. Two months later on July 23rd, we launched a free update that included new maps, game modes, and extra content.

              2nd Base brought with it new playfields, a new game mode, new rules, and new music!

              Unfortunately, the update did not bring the kind of eyes or sales we were looking for, grossing less than 100 new sales.

              While the game didn't perform to our expectations, it's not all bad news. Importantly, we learned so much about launching a game and we now have practical experience with launching a game.

              All in all, Dudelings has sold 522 copies when we had projected ~6,000 copies in the first year. Six thousand seemed plausible. It was a modest fraction of my monthly YouTube audience and it seemed achievable.

              Dudelings was a passion project for our team. It was our first game and we're really proud of what we made. If you're interested in picking up the game for yourself, it's available on Android and PC below.

              You can also wishlist our upcoming game Chess Mess on Steam or become part of the closed beta test.