Hello everyone !

A week ago, the Sol Cesto main developper, Doc Geraud, released a [new devlog on his Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ON3t_9dR1A). 

In this video, he reviews the first 2 months of the early access in many aspects, such as how the critical reception for the game has been, what's been released since the launch, what's coming next, and even does a deep dive into financial results, sharing some interesting insights about his contract with *Sol Cesto*’s publisher: Goblinz. 

Since the channel is only in French, I am making this quick recap in English, going through the key points of the devlog. I thought you guys might be interested since you’re kinda betting your money on this early access after all (you get it? betting, bet, luck, ahah...). 

Anyway, let's dive into this, shall we?

**1. Critical reception and feedbacks**

The critical reception for *Sol Cesto*’s early access has exceeded the devs' expectations. 

*Sol Cesto* received a lot of good reviews very quickly, thus easily reaching the "Extremely Positive" rating on Steam. Many reviews highlight the unique graphic style and music, as well as the originality of the gameplay. 

A few critics pointed out the lack of build possibilities, the abrupt nature of the early access ending, and the lack of motivation to make another run once you beat the game. As with many players, people struggle at first with to learn how to play, but then steamroll the game once they get used to the mechanics and systems. But overall, people agree this game rocks and has a lot of potential.

**2. Updates**

Two updates have been released so far: the first fixed a lot of bugs and added cloud saves; the second added the flute item to the game plus extra secrets.

They are currently working on the next big update, which will bring new characters, teeth, and an entirely new biome (expected to be the hardest so far). Most of the enemies, traps, and systems are already coded.

The remaining work involves creating all the floors, balancing them, and debugging. Also, all the new enemies, backgrounds, characters, and visual effects need to be drawn and animated, which takes a lot of time. The update is expected to release in 1 or 2 months.

**3. Game sales**

Financial results have exceeded both the devs’ and Goblinz’s expectations. After 2 months, *Sol Cesto* has sold more than 37,000 units (over 41,000 as I am writing this), with 40% of them being French! (oui oui baguette hon hon). For reference, the next biggest markets are the USA (16%) and China (9%).

The game received great coverage on social media and video platforms from many countries outside of France. Even the launch devlog on Geraud's YouTube channel scored far more views than usual.

On release day, *Sol Cesto* was at 35,000 wishlists on Steam. Two months later, it stands at a staggering 67,000 wishlists (this number does not include wishlists already converted into sales).

Now for the maths:  
37,000 units sold = $330,000.

Then you remove Steam’s commission, refunds (around 9.3%), and various taxes to get what Goblinz and the devs receive: $185,000 = €160,000. Goblinz allowed Geraud to share the contract details so we can have an idea of the split.

Goblinz and the devs are 50/50 until the publisher recoups their marketing fees (around €60k). Then the split becomes 70/30, with the larger share going to the devs (they recently reached that threshold, by the way).

But if we stick to the 50/50 cut, then the devs would get around €80,000 for the first 2 months, split as follows: 50% for Geraud (Game & Level Design, Programming), 45% for Chariospirale (Graphics, Animation, and Visual Effects), and 5% for Antoine Druaux (Composer, Sound Design).

**Important context from Geraud:** the team got this contract after negotiation. It’s also worth mentioning the devs only asked for a marketing budget and no production budget (except an extra €15k due to delays so both Chario and Geraud could get a minimum wage for 5 months). Otherwise, they developed the game entirely on their savings.  
Goblinz explained they agreed to these conditions because the devs came with an existing community (around 100k on YouTube, plus they had released multiple games prior to *Sol Cesto*).

And well, that's it for this recap !

Thank you for reading this far and for joining this sub. I created this subreddit 5 days after Sol Cesto release while waiting a pizza and I am happy to see more and more people joining it :D

Let me know if you have any recommandations for this sub and if you want more recaps like this for the upcoming updates. That being said, enjoy Sol Cesto !

Sol Cesto Devlog : "Has my game made me RICH? Review after 2 months"