Melbourne-made video game Big Walk has sold more than one million copies since launching this month, prompting calls for Australian governments to underpin the sector’s next commercial hit.
Big Walk, the latest game from independent Untitled Goose Game developer House House, launched on August 4 to immediate critical and commercial success.
The game – a co-operative, multiplayer romp inspired by Victoria’s scenic national parks – amassed more than one million sales within a week of launch, said House House.
It was the weekly top-seller on PC gaming marketplace Steam, beating the likes of perennial hits Counter-Strike: 2 and DOTA 2.
At time of writing, the $29.50 game is still ranked 11th on the global sales ranking, by revenue.
House House’s previous game, Untitled Goose Game — where players control a mischievous bird honking its way through a village — was itself a bestseller.
Third-party estimates suggest the developer booked US$20.5 million ($28.5 million) in revenue from the 2019 title.
More could be done to support Australia’s next gaming hit
House House received funding from Film Victoria to help develop Untitled Goose Game.
Meanwhile, a broader suite of measures, from millions in grant funding from Screen Australia, through to the 30% digital games tax offset, have supported other local developers to bring their games to market.
The federal government reintroduced the Australian Interactive Games Fund in 2023, albeit with $8 million less than its first iteration in 2013.
And South Australia this year disbursed $500,000 in funding to support 11 video games, including the Aussie Rules arcade game Pro Jank Footy, with also launched this month.
Remarking on the immediate success of Big Walk, Monash University’s Josh Olsen, a lecturer in the Department of Human Centred Computing in the Faculty of Information Technology, said local game developers deserve more support.
“Big Walk showcases the amazing work of developers in Australia, but more could be done to support the industry,” Olsen said in a statement.
“The federal government’s tax offset for games has now gone into effect, but additional state support through organisations such as Creative Victoria could help further.”
Despite the headline grabbing success of Big Walk, and recent hits like Adelaide’s own Hollow Knight: Silksong, layoffs are affecting big-name global publishers, and overall publisher funding is tightening, Olsen added.
Backdropped by those challenges, “there is an opportunity for funding bodies to help game developers build smaller independent studios, contribute to the local economy and thrive,” said Olsen.
