Pre-order sales cover $30 purchase of Game Maker

Indie game Gunpoint recoups dev costs in one minute

Indie developer Tom Francis has recouped his entire direct development costs for stealth platformer Gunpoint in just 64 seconds.

The journalist-turned-developer said he made back all of the money directly invested into development in just over one minute, having only spent $30 on purchasing development engine Game Maker three years ago.

Factoring in all less direct costs however, he said it technically took a few hours to recoup costs.

After making back investment through pre-orders alone, sales ramped up significantly once the game was officially released on Steam.

Francis said he had initially developed Gunpoint as an “audition” to get a job at a studio, but following the title’s huge success, he wanted to develop his own titles.

The developer has now quit his job at PC Gamer to take up development full time.

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