After Generation Exile launched in early access on Steam last fall, game designer Nels Anderson—also known for Firewatch and Mark of the Ninja—was left scratching his head. The space ark city builder had been wishlisted thousands of times, but sold only a few hundred copies.
"I spent 7 years making Generation Exile, a solarpunk city-builder," Anderson wrote on Reddit just after the early access launch. "Trailers in PC Gaming Show June '24 & '25. Top 70 most played demo during our Next Fest. Did all the things you're supposed to. Launched in early access last week with over 35,000 wishlists. So far, we've sold fewer than 300 copies."
Anderson is careful to say that he never felt entitled to a hit game. "At no point, then or now or fucking ever … do I feel that we are owed a particular response," the designer told PC Gamer on a recent call. He just wanted to understand what happened, given the signs had been so positive.
One part of his hypothesis is early access fatigue, and Anderson now also wonders if Generation Exile is "a little bit too strange to be...
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