Braid Breaks 27,000 Downloads

Who says gamers are cheap and/or tasteless? Despite sizable Internet uproar over its 1,200 Microsoft point asking price, the artsy puzzle-platformer Braid has managed to win the credit card digits of over 27,000 downloaders, earning it a gross of $405,000, according to a recent glance at the game’s leaderboards. That makes it the 2nd best selling XBLA game in its first three days, no small feat for a game like this, especially considering the paltry fate of similar indie-grown titles like N+.

Strong word of mouth, an awesome demo and some extremely positive reviews (the game has a 92.4% on GameRankings) most likely drove the game’s sales. And it’s not hard to imagine that the publicity from the pricing controversy eventually ended up doing more good than bad, as it visibly increased the game’s profile. I’m sure plenty of people went from “WTF is Braid?” to “what the hell could be worth 1200 points” after which they tried the demo, loved it, and bought the game.

Creator and lead designer Jonathan Blow had previously defended the game’s price as a necessity:

“There is a significant possibility that Braid would have been the next Psychonauts or Beyond Good and Evil (critically acclaimed but nobody played it), even at $10. If that happens at $10 then I am in debt and have to get a job and can’t make games any more. If that happens at $15, maybe I can still make games.”

Guess you can make games, and buy a new car, eh Jonathan?