[Editorial] Lethal Company: The indie success of the year
One developer made a game that outperformed Apex Legends; Baldur's Gate III; The Finals, and other big names.
Indie developer Zeekerss surpassed Baldur's Gate 3 in Steam ratings; his game sold 4.5 million copies. Let's delve into the game, who made it, and the results it achieved.
What is Lethal Company
Lethal Company is a cooperative horror game where teams of 4 people must gather loot while simultaneously trying to avoid monsters and traps. The earned money can be spent on various upgrades, as well as the opportunity to travel to other planets with better loot.
The success of the game is largely explained by the abundance of viral (often scary and simultaneously funny) moments. "The game continually has an answer to the question - 'Will this thing kill me?' The answer is positive," - tells one of the reviews on Steam.
In Lethal Company, the rooms are randomly generated (and with a recent update, not only them), making each gaming session unique.
Who made Lethal Company
The game was made by one person - Zeekerss. This is not his first game.
In July 2020, Zeekerss released It Steals - a pixelated single-player horror game (98% positive reviews); in April 2021 - the horror game Dead Seater (92% positive reviews); in March 2022 - the horror game The Upturned (99% positive reviews).
Although none of the games came close to the success of Lethal Company (It Steals sold the best - around 35-40 thousand copies), Zeekerss built a player base familiar with his work over the years. The released games laid the foundation; Lethal Company is not a random "overnight success."
Zeekerss came into game development from Roblox. He joined the platform in November 2011; over 11 million people have played his cards. Now, at 21, Zeekerss has been making games since he was around 10, as the first videos on his YouTube channel date back to 2012.
Game success
Lethal Company currently has a 98% positive review rating on Steam, based on 149.6 thousand reviews. People love the game - the approval level is higher than Baldur's Gate III (95.82% positive reviews).
The game's peak CCU is 240k people (more than The Finals, for example). The average peak CCU per day is around 180k users, and the minimum is 45k users.
Lethal Company was released on October 24 this year - since then, the game has gradually gained popularity. The peak came on December 3, but attention to the game has not waned since.
As of now, Lethal Company is in fourth place on Steam. The game is positioned after Counter-Strike 2; DOTA 2; PUBG: Battlegrounds. It has surpassed the popularity of GTA V; Apex Legends; The Finals; Baldur's Gate III; and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II/III (Warzone).
According to VG Insights, the game has already sold 5.4 million copies. This translates to $43 million in revenue (excluding Steam commissions and taxes).
The game has excellent potential for streaming platforms. Top streamers choose the game, and the peak number of viewers since the release has reached 190 thousand. The average daily peak viewership for Lethal Company streams is around 70-80 thousand people.
An active community is forming around Lethal Company - on Reddit, for example, in the r/lethalcompany subreddit, there are over 51 thousand members. They create videos about the game, discuss lore, and share creativity - all of which work to the game's advantage.
Zeekerss is actively working on project updates - two major patches have been released since the game's launch.
What explains the success?
To attribute success solely to luck - considering the developer's experience - is not appropriate. To make Lethal Company what it is, Zeekerss needed tens of thousands of hours spent developing various games for Roblox and Steam. Therefore, first and foremost, we must acknowledge persistent hard work and dedication.
An important factor in the game's success was the existing audience on Steam, which was able to "pick up" the project in its early stages. Most indie developers lack access to marketing tools or the skills to use them, so it is critically important for your audience to become your marketing agents.
With Lethal Company, this happened, in part, because the game incorporates many components of other viral projects. Firstly, the game is cooperative, prompting users to share it with friends. Secondly, Lethal Company is scary, funny, and absurd all at once. This appeals to both players and streamers. Thirdly, the game's locations are randomly generated, making playing the game interesting the first time as well as the hundredth.
Zeekerss spent a whole 11 years working for his "luck." And this is a good lesson for all indie developers. Sometimes success comes quickly, but it is more of an exception than a rule.