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Helium Rain [Steam, Official Site], the gorgeous space sim from Deimos Games is really quite good so it's a shame they've seen such low overall sales. In total, they've had around 14,000€ (~$17,000) in sales which is not a lot for a game at all.

The good news, is that out of the two thousand copies they say they've sold, a huge 14% of them have come from Linux. It's worth noting, that number has actually gone up since we last spoke to them, where they gave us a figure of 11% sales on Linux.

They also said this, which was nice:

Linux is now a first-class citizen too, thanks to volunteer players who helped fix issues on their platform.

You might think "well, considering how high their Linux sales are, shouldn't they fix the issues themselves?" and it's a good question. However, they're also keen to remind eveyone, that their source code is up on GitHub. Anyone can come along and suggest fixes and working with the community is a great thing.

Here's a reminder of what you can see in the game:

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They also said they plan to leave Early Access at the end of the summer, so hopefully their final release goes down well with people holding off while it's in development.

See the full update on Steam.

Thanks for the tip, TapocoL!

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PublicNuisance Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: Shmerl
Quoting: StrangerWe'd love to have a GOG release when we exit Early Access, though it's not up to us for now :)

You can try itch.io for in development versions (it should be quite easy) or even your own site. So those who buy DRM-free releases only won't need to wait.

I came here to say this. If GOG is not putting your game up then Itch.io is always another DRM free option. Hopefully I may be able to pick it up later this month.


Last edited by PublicNuisance on 22 April 2018 at 3:59 am UTC
iiari Apr 22, 2018
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Quoting: GustyGhostIt almost has the same exact stylization as Astrokill.

As a frequent player and fan of both games, besides the fact they are in space and may share the same engine, these two titles are absolutely nothing alike. They conceptually are different, play different, and look different. For Astrokill think of a lush, mission-based, Freespace 2-like shooter with fast action, big explosions, and more degrees of freedom. For Helium Rain, it's a more relaxed and nuanced game, with rich graphics and Elite-type sandbox game style, with an economy and the goal of buying and building your own company and fleet.


Last edited by iiari on 22 April 2018 at 4:46 am UTC
TheSHEEEP Apr 22, 2018
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Does anyone know if devs can see the number of people that wishlisted their game?
I feel that is an important statistic, especially for early access games.
Stranger Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: TheSHEEEPDoes anyone know if devs can see the number of people that wishlisted their game?
I feel that is an important statistic, especially for early access games.

Yes, we do have that information. We see plenty of people waiting on a release, which makes sense for an Early Access game :)
mcphail Apr 22, 2018
I bought this a while ago. I'm looking forward to playing it after release, but I was happy to buy it in early access to support your use of open source tools, open development and Linux support. I hope it all works out for you financially.
melkemind Apr 22, 2018
I just picked it up last night and enjoyed the 50 minutes I played. I'm just wondering if there's an exploration element to this game. Can I just go wandering and find interesting/useful things or is that a waste of time and I should just stick to the contracts I find at stations?


Last edited by melkemind on 22 April 2018 at 12:52 pm UTC
Mountain Man Apr 22, 2018
Wait, they're complaining about low sales, yet they're still in "early access"? Do developers even understand what "early access" is?
Liam Dawe Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: Mountain ManWait, they're complaining about low sales, yet they're still in "early access"? Do developers even understand what "early access" is?
I don't really get why people think someone is complaining as their first thought? They specifically say this in the linked post:
QuoteThis isn't a very high number, but it's close to what we expected, and we're happy with this early result as a new company.
TheSHEEEP Apr 22, 2018
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Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: Mountain ManWait, they're complaining about low sales, yet they're still in "early access"? Do developers even understand what "early access" is?
I don't really get why people think someone is complaining as their first thought? They specifically say this in the linked post:
QuoteThis isn't a very high number, but it's close to what we expected, and we're happy with this early result as a new company.
Stop complaining, Liam!
iiari Apr 22, 2018
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This is something I've long wondered... Are there stats for what percentages of an average game's sales come from early access and what percent come from full release? I'd think that the people most interested in a title would go in for early access, but maybe I'm wrong....
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