Hello, guys! A month has passed since the Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism release and we are ready to share some insights into the financial results of the release for our company.
Bad news for Stalin
In the first two weeks since release, Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism has two times fewer copies sold and twice lower gross revenue than its predecessor Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg over the same 2-week period after release. There are a couple of possible reasons:
- End of the year clutter in November with lots of big titles being released. Although, Strategic Mind: The Pacific was more successful during the same period.
- The USSR theme is less interesting/popular than the German one. (Seems the most likely reason)
- Something else.
Games quality
One might think that the game quality was the reason, but that is not the case. The games are quite close in terms of quality and gameplay. Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism has higher Steam reviews score than Blitzkrieg - 94% positive reviews at the moment - and it was more polished at launch. Thus, in terms of quality, we can say that the bar was raised higher this time and the community feedback tells us as much. Does that mean the higher quality of the game does not directly translate into higher sales?
Wishlists comparison
Both games had very close wishlist numbers prior to the game launch. That brings us to the question, what affects the game release the most?
On the bright side
The Spectre of Communism is more popular in China and Russia.
To be, or not to be?
Despite the unsuccessful start of Stalin’s career on Steam, we keep working on our next project Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom that is scheduled for Q2 2021. We hope that the upcoming title will gather more attention from the audience, considering that it features both US and British campaigns, as well as alternate history scenarios.
“It seems that the 5-year-plan will not be completed this time around. Bear with us, Comrades, the next 5-year-plan will most certainly be fulfilled within 4 years.”
Oleksandr Sienin, Lead game designer at Starni Games
In wishlist we trust
Despite the unsuccessful launch of the Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism, a wishlist count remains the best way to estimate the game’s potential at release and help the game get more attention on Steam.
You can support our team and help us with the future release by adding the upcoming Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/
Also, if you have missed the previous Developer’s Diaries episode, where we told you how the team went through the pandemics so far - make sure to check it out:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1341170/announcements/detail/2934622488787841394
If you have something to say to us - make sure to leave your take on the situation in the comments below. We are always eager to get all sorts of feedback.
Stay tuned for more Developers’ Diaries next week.
With best regards
Starni Games team