News & Commentary

The Best Game of Launch Week Was Made by One Person

Well Dweller opened at Metacritic 91, two days before Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall - and it launched on the subscription Xbox is still paying into while it cuts studios.

Well Dweller, the third game from Crypt Custodian developer Kyle Thompson, launched September 22 on Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox and PC, and day one on Game Pass. It opened at 91 on Metacritic, per HappyGamer. Two days later, Remedy's Control Resonant (84) and Konami's Silent Hill: Townfall (81) landed on the same day.

A lot happened in one week, and that's the point. A hand-drawn Metroidvania made by a single developer out-reviewed two AAA releases while they soaked up all the attention.

Be fair to the big two: an 84 and an 81 are good games, and Control Resonant is Remedy's riskiest swing in years. But the one worth studying is the small one, and where it launched.

The same week Xbox kept cutting its own studios, its subscription was still one of the best places for a solo developer to get found. Scores aren't sales, and a 91 doesn't pay rent by itself. A day-one subscription deal is different - it's money agreed before launch, which is how a one-person team survives releasing into a two-AAA pileup instead of being buried by it.

Check the Steam concurrents for all three at the end of the month. That's the scoreboard that pays for the next game.