Clearly showing the enduring appeal of its old-school gaming aesthetics, indie RPG Sea of Stars hit a major sales milestone less than a day after its official release. According to a new Twitter post from developer Sabotage Studio, the multiplatform, retro-styled RPG reached 100,000 copies sold on its first day of release.
Sabotage Studio’s indie RPG Sea of Stars sells 100,000 copies on its first day of release
Those would be solid sales numbers for almost any new title, but what makes the fact that Sea of Stars hit a major sales milestone so quickly even more impressive is how it was released. While players can buy a copy of the game on digital storefronts for PC and consoles, Sea of Stars was released on PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass making it effectively “free” for subscribers to those services. An unabashed love letter to classic RPGs, Sea of Stars counts Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda among its many contributors.
It’s rare to see a game released on both consoles’ subscription services simultaneously, particularly one as eagerly anticipated as Sea of Stars. While some developers have claimed that subscription services like PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass stifle sales for new games, this definitely doesn’t appear to be the case for Sea of Stars. Players who prefer to buy Sea of Stars outright can also purchase it for PS4 and PS5 for $34.99 on the PS Store.
Initially announced in 2020 as a Kickstarter project before transitioning to a traditional release, Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG heavily inspired by classic games like Illusion of Gaia and Chrono Trigger. Set in the same universe as The Messenger, Sea of Stars takes the popular Metroidvania’s decidedly old-school aesthetic and applies it to the role-playing genre. Already proving to be a critical success in addition to a sales hit, Sea of Stars for PS5 currently has a Metascore of 90.
