Dead Cells was one of this player's all-ti favorite gas.
Across handheld, console, and the BattleNet platform, he had logged over 400 hours in the ga.
Even in his current state of digital ED, he would still occasionally pick up his handheld console and play a few rounds.
But after having thoroughly explored the ga, he was gradually starting to feel bored of it.
So now that the sa creator had released a new ga, it felt worth trying.
This new title, however, was clearly not another troidvania-style ga—it was an entirely new kind of gaplay.
From what he'd heard, it sounded pretty casual.
The ga's file size wasn't large, so the download finished quickly, and he launched it straight into the main nu.
The interface was very minimal—just Start Ga, Continue, and Options.
...
...
Clicking into the ga, it launched directly.
The original tutorial level used a motorcycle, but Takayuki later decided that was too difficult and instead reverted to using a van, which had been part of the original version's tutorial.
Motorcycles had too many parts, which could easily frustrate players in a tutorial setting, so it was moved to later stages.
The van was simpler—players only needed to clean certain areas.
Holding down the mouse button, the pressure washer began spraying, and the player had to clean designated spots until they were sparkling.
That's it?
The player was surprised.
How could this be fun?
Now he finally understood those user reviews—the ones saying they started doing other things while playing.
This ga really was perfect for background entertainnt—sothing to play while chatting, watching a movie, etc.
Most people instinctively used it that way.
So, he minimized the ga, opened a tab for Facebook's streaming platform, and clicked into a show he'd been aning to watch for a while.
Everything felt very natural.
And before he knew it, he had binged an entire season of a show—and realized he'd also played the ga for seven to eight hours straight.
This ga... wasn't bad. It wasn't incredible either, but it was extrely low-stress.
Sotis, not being able to reach 100% cleanliness in a particular spot was frustrating—but it was always possible to find what was left to clean.
The ga's guidance was solid, with highlight indicators showing where dirt remained.
The zone-based segntation was also very user-friendly. It told you when a specific part was fully cleaned so you didn't need to repeatedly check.
If he had to clean an entire house without this feature, he would've left a scathing review.
But now? He was actually ready to give it a positive rating.
That said, it hadn't cured his digital ED. It was just a nice distraction—sothing chill to do when bored. Still, for the price, it felt worth it.
He hadn't expected such a simple chanic to be this satisfying.
"Actually," he thought, "maybe I should go buy a real pressure washer. My car needs a wash anyway."
Riding that cleaning montum, he figured: why not give it a try in real life?
After quitting the ga, he glanced at the indie dev's other titles and was surprised to see that this wasn't the only one—there were several others released at the sa ti.
The output pace was impressive. And since it was Sumr Sale season, all the gas were discounted.
Even though the discount wasn't huge—only 20% for the new titles, which were already cheap—the combination of novelty and affordability made them feel like a no-brainer.
So, without hesitation, he bought all of the other new gas from this creator.
Consider it his way of supporting the Sumr Sale.
In fact, he hoped events like this would happen more often—giving him a chance to explore more gas without breaking the bank.
At lower prices, people were simply more willing to take risks on gas they wouldn't have tried otherwise.
The Sumr Sale lasted a total of two weeks.
During that ti, the concurrent online users across BattleNet, handhelds, and consoles hit a new record: 27 million, just shy of 30 million.
Experts predicted that the next sale would likely break that barrier.
30 million concurrent users—what did that an?
It ant 30 million players, across three platforms, were active at the sa ti.
That kind of engagent is an incredible asset.
Then ca the total revenue for the two weeks:
$6.2 billion.
The biggest surge ca during the first two days.
Sales dropped off in the second week, but even so, the three platforms collectively earned $6.2 billion.
And this was just one sale event.
Future sales would likely earn even more.
Among all the titles, Gastar's first-party gas made an absolute killing.
Selling gas on their own platform ant 100% of the profit went directly into their pockets.
After deducting taxes across different regions, their first-party profit alone was over $1 billion.
A massive recovery of revenue.
The Japanese tax authorities were stunned by the numbers.
This was during an economic downturn, and yet one company was still able to pull in this kind of money. Was video gaming really this powerful?
And yet, that wasn't the biggest win.
The biggest win was the new users.
Before the sale, the combined unique user base (excluding overlap) across the three platforms was over 600 million, with BattleNet accounting for half.
After the Sumr Sale, the total user base jumped by over 100 million, bringing the grand total to 700 million .
The new users weren't major spenders—they were drawn in by the low prices and only spent a little, with average spending under $1.
But the future was promising.
Once they finished the gas they'd just picked up, they would start craving more.
And just in ti for the next sale, they'd be ready to go wild all over again.
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