The Solo Developer of PlateUp Shares the Secret to His Game's Success

Just a week before the launch of his debut game, Alastair Janse van Rensburg embarked on a family holiday, anxious about the game's release and still making last-minute adjustments. A year prior, he had left his £30,000 per annum job as a cybersecurity researcher in Oxford to focus on game development, and his family had reassured him that if the game could generate £30,000 in a reasonable timeframe, the risk would be worth it. However, his first royalty payment exceeded £1 million, surpassing all expectations. Since its release in August 2022, PlateUp has sold over 1.5 million copies, and its success has been a surprise to van Rensburg. He had been told that Steam wishlists were a reliable indicator of initial sales, but PlateUp's 25,000 wishlists translated to 35,000 sales in the first week, with no signs of slowing down. The game's top sales day was a month after launch, with peak concurrent users primarily in the US, while van Rensburg was asleep. The game's success was so immense that it broke the payment system of publisher Yogscast Games, with van Rensburg opting for bank transfers instead of cheques for his royalty payments. The publisher had to pay him in installments due to the royalties exceeding their bank's limit. Van Rensburg acknowledges that being published by Yogscast provided 'massive support from streamers,' with big-name streamers like Pokimane dedicating time to PlateUp. He confesses that he was unfamiliar with streaming and streamers, but the game's design, which allows for flexibility and co-op play, made it an attractive choice for streamers. The game's roguelike structure enables players to jump in at any point, making it accessible to both individual players and streamers. Van Rensburg explains that the game's design was focused on creating a co-op experience where players could work together, without the pressure of individual roles or responsibilities. The game's community has been optimizing their runs, and van Rensburg has been regularly updating and expanding the game, with a new content update or seasonal event added almost monthly. He advises aspiring developers to 'jank it or lose it,' focusing on getting the core mechanic of the game to players as quickly as possible, rather than wasting time on polishing the game. By minimizing friction and getting the game into players' hands quickly, van Rensburg believes that the core mechanic will shine through, and the rest will fall into place.