If Minecraft is any indication, procedurally generated games sell like hotcakes. People enjoy spending time in worlds that feel unique to them, and that fact has helped push survival title Don’t Starve past a million downloads. That’s a major milestone for a studio that’s been searching for a big hit, and Klei’s Corey Rollins recently explained to Edge that the decision to launch on PS4 as a free plus game has been fruitful.
“Well before the end of 2013 we had over one million Don’t Starve players,” Rollins said. “With PlayStation Plus, beyond promotion of being a featured game, a lot of people who maybe wouldn’t have tried our game did [try it] and really enjoyed it. Some of those people went on to check out the PC version as well, and would maybe be interested in the upcoming DLC.”
If it worked for one PlayStation platform, why not move to the small, more indie-focused piece of hardware, too?
“We’re investigating a proper Vita version [of Don't Starve] at the moment, but we’re not quite sure yet,” he continued. “Currently, a lot of people play Don’t Starve: Console Edition using the PS4′s remote play, and really enjoy it. So we’re looking into a proper Vita release. As for iOS and mobile, that is something we’ve also been investigating and we think might work, but it’s not at the front of our development priorities right now. It’s still on our radar, though.”
Don’t Starve will also get its Reign of Giants DLC on PC in the near future.