It’s fair to say that Untitled Goose Game has been one of the more surprising breakthrough hits in gaming. From its humble beginnings in 2017 on the festival circuit, this indie darling became a meme that found fans well outside the typical gaming sphere. It launched in September on the Switch and Epic Games Store before coming out earlier this month on the Xbox One and PS4. And all of these platforms have contributed to the game selling over a million copies.
Cabel Sasser from Panic, the game’s publisher and the company bringing the quirky Playdate console to store shelves in 2020, revealed the news on Twitter earlier today. It also came with a pleasant thank you for all of those who were an unpleasant goose.
It seems impossible, but last week, three months after launch, Untitled Goose Game passed one million copies sold.
From the bottom of our hearts: thank you for playing our videogame.
— Cabel (@cabel) December 30, 2019
ALSO: Untitled Goose Game release is promptly followed by real goose crime
Developed by four-person team House House over the course of two years, Untitled Goose Game has players disrupting the lives of common folk living in a tranquil English village. Your goals include dragging a rake into a lake, stealing food while no one is looking, and honking whenever possible. That last goal is unofficial, but it makes the game that much more enjoyable.
It’s a crazy story, made even crazier by the events along the way. The memes across the Internet following the game’s debut only pushed it into the public consciousness more. From comedy duo Desus and Mero to model Chrissy Teigen, many people outside of the typical sphere of games were getting in on the action. Then, there were the Game Awards, which featured a Muppet Labs skit that officially propelled the goose from Untitled Goose Game into the Muppet cast.
But sadly many found the game to be a bit annoying to play as critics bemoaned the title’s poor stealth mechanics. However, that ability to pick up and play might just explain why it reached such a wide audience so quickly. With so much success, we’ll see how House House follows up on the game.
