Monomi Park's Nick Popovich has announced that Slime Rancher 2 sales have topped the 300k mark. The game achieved this remarkable milestone in less than a week, and what's more, Popovich says the team managed this feat while working in a "zero crunch" environment.
Slime Rancher 2 sales continue to skyrocket
Last week, Monomi Park revealed that Slime Rancher 2 sales had hit 100k in less than 6 hours. Now, the studio's CEO and co-founder Nick Popovich has taken to Twitter to confirm another milestone for the game: it's hit 300k sales in "just a few days", according to Popovich. That's not bad going for a little indie sim about farming slimes.
It's not just the sales that Popovich is proud of, however. He also says that Monomi Park created Slime Rancher 2 "with zero crunch", as well as "top tier benefits" and unlimited paid time off for his team. Hats off to you for that one, Monomi Park. Long may it continue.
Why a "zero crunch" environment is important
In recent times, the topic of crunch has become more and more pressing in the world of gaming. If you don't know what "crunch" refers to, it's basically when studios expect their employees to work beyond reasonable hours, often imposing 100-hour work weeks or weekend overtime on employees, which in turn leads to burnout, stress, and mental health problems.
Even though crunch is a serious issue in the gaming industry, affecting projects as big as The Last of Us Part II and Cyberpunk 2077, there's also a growing "counter-crunch" movement wherein developers specifically aim to complete games without crunch. Studios like Frogwares and Insomniac have pointed to the lack of crunch on projects, and some games are being delayed at least in part to avoid crunch as well.
It looks like the industry as a whole is attempting to move away from crunch, although some major AAA projects, like The Callisto Protocol, are still embracing it. Here's hoping that Monomi Park's ability to sell plenty of Slime Rancher 2 copies without any crunch involved can act as a beacon for the rest of the industry. We'll bring you more on this as we get it. In the meantime, if you're one of the 300,000 people who's picked up Slime Rancher 2, why not take a look at our guides to get yourself started?
