"Inventing the netherworld of PurGAMEatory, the superbly made short features characters from a dozen Devolver games trapped, unplayed, desperately seeking a means to escape. It's a fair point. There are few of us blessed with expendable income who haven't seen the ludicrously low prices some games reach in a Steam sale, bought three of them for a couple of bucks each, and then never even installed them."
""I was wishlisted over a million times!" cries the latest arrival to PurGAMEatory, a stick man from Stick It to the Stickman, likely a snarky reference to some of the discontent I've recently been hearing from various smaller publishers about the exaggerated efficacy of the Wishlist system. "I'm so fucking fun!" screeches another gaming character in the background, as the explanatory voice of an Enter The Gungeon bullet makes reference to "overflowing Humble Bundles.""
""Additional content is the path to freedom!" realize the characters. And as funny as this certainly is, it must hit a very different way for indie developers for whom this is all too true. Sure, they got your money-albeit at 90 percent less than they would have liked-but if you don't play the game, you're unlikely to buy their follow-up."
Devolver launched a week-long Steam sale accompanied by a three-minute animated short that satirizes players who buy discounted games but never play them. The short, set in PurGAMEatory, assembles characters from about a dozen Devolver titles who are trapped and desperate to escape. The cartoon lampoons systems such as wishlists and overflowing bundles that drive high-volume, low-engagement purchases. The characters conclude that selling additional content is the path to freedom, highlighting how deep discounts can net revenue but undermine long-term player engagement and future purchases. Devolver lists major indie titles at discounts up to 90 percent.
Read at Kotaku
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