shadowgrounds posts

With exactly one week to go before it shuts down, the "pay what you want" Humble Frozenbyte Bundle of five downloadable games from developer Frozenbyte has raised nearly $690,000. The rate of revenue has slowed considerable since the first day when the bundle raised over $400,000.

Just a reminder: The bundle contains five games from Frozenbyte; the two titles in the Shadowgrounds sci-fi top down shooter series as well as Trine, the fantasy platformer-puzzle game, all DRM-free and all in PC, Mac and Linux versions. You also get the soundtracks for all three games and three music tracks for the upcoming sequel Trine 2. The bundle also gives access to the previously unreleased top down action game prototype Jack Claw. Buyers of the bundle will also gain access to Splot, a platformer that has yet to be released.

The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle continues to chug along as five games from developer Frozenbyte are now available on the "pay what you want" business model for the next 12 days. So far there have been over 100,00 sales of the bundle and well over $525,000 in revenue generated.

Frozenbyte have announced that buyers of the bundle can now also download three music tracks from the soundtrack to one of its upcoming games that's not a part of the bundle, Trine 2. In addition one of the games in the bundle, the prototype Jack Claw, now supports keyboard and mouse controls in addition to the Xbox 360 controller. Frozenbyte says they plan to put in a few more small updates and extras in the bundle before it's over.

The third "pay what you want" game sale event from the folks behind the previous two Humble Indie Bundle deals is doing very well. The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle has generated over $400,000 in revenue in its first 24 hours.

While that number is actually below the $500,000 generated by the second Humble Indie Bundle deal in its first 24 hours, that money was given to several game developers plus two charities. This new deal's revenues will go to just one developer, Frozenbyte, along with the charities. Just a reminder: The deal lets you pay what you want for the two titles in the Shadowgrounds sci-fi top down shooter series, the fantasy platformer-puzzle game Trine, the previously unreleased game prototype Jack Claw, and the upcoming game Splot.

The first two Humble Indie Bundle events generated well over $1 million in revenues each time for the select group of indie games via the "pay what you want" business model. Now that same group is launching a third such effort but this one is a bit different. All five games will be from the same developer Frozenbyte.

Yes, Frozenbyte is offering five of its games via the "pay what you want" model for a limited time. The games include the two titles in the Shadowgrounds sci-fi top down shooter series (both now have new Mac and Linux ports for this deal) as well as Trine, the fantasy platformer-puzzle game (that game now has a Linux port). All three games also come with their music soundtracks.

But that's not all. Paying for the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle also gives the customer access to two more previously unreleased games. One is Jack Claw, a top-down action game prototype (Windows only) that features the player controlling a character with a giant whip in an urban setting. The source code for the game is included. The other title is Splot, a game that hasn't even been released yet but will be given to anyone who purchases the bundle once it's ready. We don't have any idea about what the game is like but the concept art looks ... interesting.

The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle should be live by the time you read this and will last for at least 14 days. By default, any purchases of the bundle will also benefit two charities, Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. You can check out a trailer (with goofy narration) for the bundle after the jump.

Update: In just its first hour the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle has already generated about $58,000 in revenue.

Yet another busy day from GDC. It's great to hear that Minecraft and Amnesia, among other PC exclusive games, are selling so well and also gaining acceptance from game developers.

• As promised earlier this week the new Polynesian Scenario Pack for Civilization V has been released via Steam.
• Steam also has automatic updates available for Shank and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Retribution.
• GoG.com has added the top down sci-fi shooter Shadowgrounds to its PC game download library.
• A YouTube video shows a man updating his PC through every version of Windows.
• Former id Software founders John Romero and Tom Hall look back at the making of the original Doom at GDC 2011.

Steam's mid-week sales event happens like clockwork on Tuesday and today they have posted up word on two games that have had their prices slashed from now until Thursday. The games are Shadowgrounds and its sequel Shadowgrounds Survivor, the entertaining top down sci-fi shooters from developer Frozenbyte (who later went on to make Trine).

You can get Shadowgrounds for just $2.49 during the sale while Shadowgrounds Survivor is priced at $3.74. Both games are also offered in a bundle and you can purchase that bundle for a mere $4.99. That's a big 75 percent price cut from its normal price.

Canadian-based game publisher Meridian4 has had a long relationship with Valve's Steam download service. This week Steam celebrates Meridian4's fifth anniversary with a special week-long sale. In short all of the games from the publisher have had their prices cut to 50 percent their normal value.

That means huge savings for titles like the two Shadowgrounds sci-fi shooters from Frozenbyte, the two Pacific Storm WWII action titles from Buka and the sci-fi first person shooter Alpha Prime from Black Element Software. You can also get all 13 games in the Meridian4 Complete Pack for just $24.99 via Steam. The sale ends on July 6.

Frozenbyte's upcoming action-puzzle game Trine had a couple of news announcements this week; one was that it found a retail game publisher in Southpeak Games and the other being the release of a playable demo. Now comes word that Trine can be pre-ordered via Steam with a special bonus to go with the purchase.

If you put down your well earned $30 to buy the game you can download and play Frozenbyte's first game Shadowgrounds immediately for free. The $9.99 title is still a rather entertaining and old fashioned top down third person sci-fi shooter but far different than the fantasy action-puzzle game that Trine is going to be when it's released next month.

Canadian publisher Meridian4 has used Steam to distribute a number of their PC games and their next title is Tank Universal, an arcade-like action game that visually has elements of Tron and the original Battlezone. Developed by Dialogue Design, the game has players engaging in massive tank battles and even on foot missions and will have a number of Steam achievements to unlock.

The game is due for release on August 21, but if you pre-order the $9.99 game now you can get Shadowgrounds, the top down sci-fi shooter from developer Frozenbyte for free via Steam. Like Tank Universal, Shadowgrounds is published by Meridian4.

Oh, those crazy Finland cats. We refer, of course, to Frozenbyte, the game developer who so far has released two games in the Shadowgrounds series of top down sci-fi action games. The games may be budget titles but they are a lot of fun and it looks like Frozenbyte is ready give us some more. A lot more.

The company just relaunched its corporate web site and announced that it is planning to release three more original games, one in 2008 and the other two in 2009. That's all the details they are giving at the moment . . . or are they playing with us? The only non-Shadowgrounds image on their web site is of what looks like a giant 1950's retro style robot attacking something unseen with train cars in one of its metal hands. Hmmmm . . . is that a hint about what their next game is about? If so color us interested.