Back in the '10s, Yacht Club cultivated a reputation as the studio that kept on giving—Shovel Knight Treasure Trove morphed into one of the best deals in the platformer genre, with one free update after another (including full story campaigns) for those who owned the original NES throwback.
But those awaiting the studio's follow-up, Mina the Hollower, spent a long time waiting, and delays left the company in dire need of a hit. "It’s make-or-break for sure," studio co-founder Cris Velasco told Bloomberg last year. "If we sold even 200,000, that would be really, really great. If we sold, like, 100,000, that’s not so good."
Well, we're a few months out from the game's release, when it sold over 500,000 copies in a few weeks, and Yacht Club is to remain afloat "...for now," co-founder Sean Velasco said in a Reddit AMA (via Eurogamer).
The future looks relatively bright for the developer, as other answers in the thread discuss that Mina the Hollower is due for some big updates soon, including randomizer and speedrunning options, and that most of the team is at work on a 3D game. Designer Alec Faulkner didn't provide any details on the unannounced game, other than to say "it’s gonna be soooooooo awesome."
It's good to hear the studio has the wind back in its sails, and it probably helped that Mina was such a hit. It seems set to hold its own the GOTY conversation later this year—and PC Gamer contributing writer Kerry Brunskill gave it a spiffy 90% in their review, calling it "a gloriously gothic combination of ferocious combat and beautiful scenery." If you've had your fill of the game itself, though, there's always Mina's fighting game debut to look forward to.
