More than 50,000 copies of haunting PC adventure Dear Estherwere sold in its first week on sale, developer Dan Pinchbeck has confirmed.
Thechineseroom's game, which began life as a Half-Life 2 mod, was released on February 14 and recouped The Indie Fund's £30,000 investment in the game in five and a half hours. In a post on the game's official site Pinchbeck reveals that those strong initial sales continued throughout its first week on Steam.
"The game has been successful far beyond our expectations," he writes. "This is great, as it shows that there's a real audience for this type of work, and responses have been amazing.
"Not only have we received amazingly positive reviews, but the response from fans has been outstanding. Within one week of launch, we sold over 50,000 copies of the game, which is an extraordinary amount for an indie release."
Pinchbeck goes on to confirm that work continues on translations, making the game's soundtrack available in FLAC format, and patches. He, along with artist Rob Briscoe and composer Jessica Curry, will be at GDC in San Francisco next week, where there will be two sessions focused on Dear Esther.
Last week it was revealed that Thechineseroom's next project will be Amnesia: Machine Of Pigs, a follow-up to revered PC horror titleAmnesia: The Dark Descent.

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