Secrets of the developer who sold half a million videogames you ve never heard of on Steam

Bit Blaster XL

A throwback to the classic quarter eating arcade games of the 80's. Bit Blaster XL is a retro styled, addictive, and fast paced arcade shoot 'em up! (shmup).

bit blaster xl

In the space of a half-hour conversation, Adam Nickerson, aka Nickervision Studios, uses a variant of the phrase I don t know really how to make videogames at least half a dozen times. Yet he s managed to singlehandedly sell half a million copies of his games on PC.

You ve probably never heard of Bit Blaster XL, for example, but it s shifted 260,000 copies on Steam. He developed it solo, in just two weeks. Its follow-up, on course to be equally successful, was developed in 75 hours.

How did he do it? He figured out exactly how to get noticed on Steam during this time of seemingly ceaseless new releases – a time that has destroyed the hopes and dreams of many other small developers. (more…)