Some of you may have heard of Butterscotch Shenanigans. They’re the guys behind Towelfight 2: The Monocle of Destiny, a twin-stick shooter that some say is reminiscent of The Binding of Issac. I enjoyed it pretty much. You go from room to room, clearing out baddies while shooting an assortment of animals out of your face.
And it’s not just me alone who enjoyed Towelfight 2. The game’s got a stellar 4.8/5 rating on Google Play. The sad thing though is, Towelfight 2 never sold well, despite the fact that it was very highly rated and that it only cost $0.99.
Dropping by the forums after I posted about their upcoming game Quadropus Rampage there, Butterscotch explained why they’re going free this time round. According to them, the Android version shipped 1,538 copies, and saw 34,091 pirated copies. The iOS version meanwhile shipped 2,651 copies and saw 2,438 copies being pirated. That is a 22:1 piracy ratio on Android!
Butterscotch went on to say that lots of people wanted to play it, but very few wanted to pay for it. And in their own words, “We made a free game – we just didn’t know it at that time”. As a result, Quadropus Rampage is going to be free, but Butterscotch has promised that its implementation of IAPs will be fair since they say it won’t be a need (forced) but a want (optional). IAPs will be there to accelerate the unlocking process in the game, but even if you don’t pay anything, Butterscotch assures us that you can make a steady rate of progression.
This is a problem not unique to only Butterscotch Shenanigans, but to all those small indie developers who persist on selling paid games in a day and age where freemium ones are known to bring much better return on investment. And it is worse still for first time developers with no name recognition.
Oh wait, I’ve not even talked about Quadropus Rampage! It’s a rogue-like action-RPG that will maintain the same distinctive visual style to Towelfight 2, along with its quirky sense of humor. The game will have seven upgrade tracks and twenty Masteries (achievements), and a boatload of content to unlock. I’m all excited watching the trailer alone, and the wait shouldn’t be long now. The game is scheduled to launch on 6th of June barring any last minute issues.
Forum Discussion: Quadropus Rampage
