Regular D-pad Joy followers will recall that our own Alisa Hail called Studio MDHR’s eclectic hand-drawn platformer Cuphead “a devilishly good time” in her review this month, awarding the studio’s stellar debut effort a perfect 5/5 score to boot.
Well, if the digital sales it’s racked up since its September 29th launch are any indication, Alisa’s been far from alone in taking great delight from this nostalgic throwback to a bygone age of gloriously ridiculous platforming challenges…
Takeaways:
- After spending just a fortnight on the Xbox Store and PC marketplaces, Cuphead has over a million unit sales to its name.
- It’s no small feat when one considers that the side-scrolling adventure currently costs £16 / $20 to pick up, meaning Studio MDHR has at least £16m / $20m to invest in its next – as yet unknown – project.
- At present, Steam Spy reckons most of Cuphead‘s player base derives from PC hardware, with almost 590,000 gamers already having purchased the tough-as-nails platformer for themselves on Steam.
- The development team’s Chad and Jared Moldenhauer say they’re “humbled and excited that so many people from around the world” have taken a trip back to the age of 1930s cartoon action with them. They add: “We could never have dreamed of the reception we’ve received from our amazing fans.”
Given how many development studios – not least Guerilla Cambridge and Lionshead – have fallen by the wayside of late due to diminishing demand, that Cuphead looks set to buck this trend will doubtless come as a huge relief for first-time devs Studio MDHR.
But complacency can soon breed catastrophe, of course, so the minds responsible for rendering the eponymous nose-laser-blasting protagonist’s psychedelic escapades would do well to brainstorm fresh ideas for further projects rather than resting on their laurels.
In the meantime, though, be sure to let us know your thoughts on Cuphead in the comments section below, as well as what you reckon the storming success of a fledgeling indie title such as this one could mean for the trajectory of our industry.