Tale of Tales leaves game development

Sunset developer Tale of Tales has left game development after it was only able to sell 4,000 copies of the Kickstarter-funded game.

The studio ran a crowdfunding campaign for the project last year and raised $67,636, smashing its goal of $25,000. Despite this, the team still spent more money than it had on the production of Sunset, as it believed it could make back costs in the first month of sales.

But the title, which had more of a consumer focus than its previous releases, struggled to make traction in the market. The 4,000 copies shifted included Kickstarter rewards.

Tale of Tales’ attempts to increase sales included a 50 per cent discount on Steam, an advertisement on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and a PR company to help with marketing. All failed to make an impact.

“So now we are free,” read a statement from the studio’s Michaël Samyn and Auriea Harvey.

“We don’t have to take advice from anybody anymore. We were wrong. Everybody whom we consulted with on Sunset was wrong.

“We are happy and proud that we have tried to make a ‘game for gamers’. We really did our best with Sunset, our very best. And we failed. So that’s one thing we never need to do again. Creativity still burns wildly in our hearts but we don’t think we will be making video games after this. And if we do, definitely not commercial ones.”