Hack and slash dungeon RPG “Nevergrind Online” is more popular than expected and the server goes down. Unusual Japanese popularity that screams from developers do not stop –AUTOMATON

Neverworks GamesNevergrind Online』It seems that it continues to show local popularity. The hack and slash dungeon RPG’s breakthrough is so strong that it kills the game’s servers.

“Nevergrind Online” is a dungeon RPG that is distributed early on Steam. Also supports multiplayer (save data is not included in solo / multimode). The hero dives into a dungeon as an adventurer in a medieval fantasy world. The flow of the game is very simple. After choosing a class, go to the tavern to order a quest and subdue the monsters. After taking home the equipment and appraising it, challenge a new and more powerful dungeon. It is a mechanism to search the dungeon endlessly in order to obtain strong equipment.

The visuals are simple and the animation of the monsters is not rich. The dungeon structure is simple and there is no elaborate gimmick. The UI is also not intuitive. However, the trehan loop is well-constructed, and the real thrill of hack and slash and multiplayer RPGs is tightly packed, such as the importance of close cooperation during multiplayer, and the game is finished with a solid core. More than 310 reviews have been received on Steam, and the rating is “very popular”. Many players cite old-fashioned MMORPGs such as “EverQuest” as an expression to praise this work.

This work started early access distribution on June 10. In addition to some players paying attention to this work, Twitter user Ban-chan provided a Japanese translation, and the number of Japanese users has expanded. Developer Joe Leonard has reported a large amount of sales from Japan (Related article). Its popularity seems to be accelerating.

Because, on July 17th, the server for multiplayer of this work went down. It is said that this is because the number of simultaneously connected players has gathered more than expected. The server was then restored and changed to specs that could withstand a larger number of concurrent players. Why did the server go down? Is this work so popular in Japan? We talked to developer Leonard.

In the first place, he didn’t expect this product to sell so well. Certainly, if you look at the changes in the number of simultaneously connected players, you can see how amazing it is. At the start of Early Access distribution, the number of simultaneous connected players was recorded at around 200, but it was cut to 3 digits in 2 weeks of distribution. However, the population has expanded rapidly since July 13. On July 18, the number of simultaneous players peaked at 545. Leonard said he hadn’t seen more than 500 people even in beta and didn’t expect this to happen. Since the number of simultaneous connected players has not reached 1000, it is still small in popularity compared to other titles. However, it seems that it was unexpected as a developer. By the way, the current server can withstand up to 1000 simultaneous players.

Leonard seems to have been asleep when the server went down. He asked how he felt when he woke up, but he said, “When I got up from bed with anxiety, the server was down and I was honestly terrible.” He was worried and asked if he was sleeping lately, and he said he only slept for about four hours every day, even though he had too much adrenaline and wasn’t drinking coffee. He optimized the net code and joked that if the server settled down, he would be able to sleep slowly even when the Japanese were subduing the dragon.

As you can see from the number of players connected at the same time, sales of this product are also strong. It seems that recent sales are much higher than the figures at the time of launch. Leonard says his sales are amazing every day. As for the number of units sold, it seems that 6000 units have been sold so far. When asked about the breakdown of sales, 87% of last week’s sales came from Japan. Sales seem to be strong not only in Japan but globally, and the total sales ratio is 39%, which is mostly in the United States. However, Japan is threatening the top with 35%, and it is possible that the top countries will change in the near future.

On the other hand, you may be wondering if Nevergrind Online is a business success. When I asked Leonard about the commercial side, he commented that he had already recovered the development costs. The development cost only about $ 15,000 (about 2 million yen), and it seems that such costs are recovered within a few weeks after the release. The game seems to have been developed using Leonard’s hobby time, but he said happily that the game is currently selling so well that he may have to quit his main business. He said he dreamed of developing a game full-time. Leonard self-analyzes that this work is a very peculiar success in that it has grown to this point even though it has not been featured in the Western media.

As mentioned above, the sales and number of users of this work are not so large in the world. However, a hard-core game with a simple visual and a list price of 2050 yen, one month after early access distribution, rapidly gained support from Japanese users and increased the number, surprised developers living in the United States. The phenomenon itself is interesting. This is a case where the word-of-mouth effect surely exists even within the Japanese Steam community, and the importance of being able to play in Japanese is felt. Today, July 19th, the brothers and sisters of the popular YouTuber group will deliver the play of this work. It seems that more attention will be gathered.

The skeleton of the game itself is quite rigid, and there is no doubt that it is a game of choosing people. Still, “Nevergrind Online” continues to fascinate Japanese Steam gamers. How far will the popularity of this work grow? “Nevergrind Online”Steam.Early access is being delivered for 2050 yen at. It is expected to be officially released for about a year, and content will be added and adjusted as an early access distribution title in the future.