Kenny Sun is a video game creation machine.
When GamesIndustry.biz touches on the fact that his recently released game is an Arkanoid-style roguelike Ball x Pit – sold over a million copies in its first month, an indie developer shrugs it off and simply says he's busy working on other things. “I don't think much about it.”
Such succinct reactions are not uncommon for Sun, says Nigel Lowry, co-founder and head of marketing at game publisher Devolver Digital. “We continue to give Kenny good news about sales milestones, critical reception, and amazing videos from influencers and the community…Kenny just says, 'Cool,' and then gets back to work.”
“There are a lot of interesting things going on. We joke to ourselves that we can't get Kenny too excited because he's just working on a lot of stuff, and that's been the case throughout development.” It was recently announced that Ball x Pit will be releasing three updates next year. “We're always shocked that there's more to come,” Lowry says. “He's a machine. It's just amazing.”
Work on Ball x Pit began four years ago when Sun worked as a programmer at Terrible Toybox on Return to Monkey Island published by Devolver. Initially it was a weekend project.
“I started working on a prototype based on this mobile phone. [game] which I found is called Panballwhich is a similar structure where you have a bunch of balls that you throw into a crowd of blocks,” Sun explains. “I liked it. I really liked it, but there were some elements that I didn't like. There were a lot of free-to-play elements. I just wanted to make my own version that didn't have that. Then it turned into something completely different.”
He eventually pitched Ball x Pit to several publishers; this was the third time he approached Devolver with a game after Near infinity And Mr. Sun's Hatbox; these projects were eventually released by Sun himself and Raw Fury respectively. But Devolver finally bit Ball x Pit.
“We always knew Kenny was talented—Circa Infinity and Mr Sun's Hat Box were really cool games,” Lowry explains. “But we need to be able to look at the developer and tell them we think we can help do more of this. Otherwise, what's the point of working with us? Just do it yourself. We knew from the beginning that this was something special, but as soon as we released the demo during Steam Next Fest, there was definitely a test there because it went so well.”
Despite this, Devolver lived up to expectations for the title. Lowry says the company is “optimistically conservative” when it comes to internal game sales forecasts. For Ball x Pit, the label expected it to sell around 300,000 copies in its first year. But in fact, the game reached this sales milestone within the first five days, and since then the number of copies sold has more than tripled.
“We knew everything would be fine, but we never aimed for the stars,” Lowry says. “Even at launch we had 250,000 wishlists, which is good, but it's not an indication that the game will sell a million copies in six weeks. What ended up happening was that everyone—influencers, press, platform partners—saw how well it was received and it grew on its own.” This is another example of how wish lists are not necessarily the best indicator of successalthough, fortunately, in this case, the success was much greater than what was indicated on the wish lists.
The structure of the game isn't necessarily all that original. “We've already seen the core gameplay loop in many releases,” Lowry says. “You have a warfighting scenario that influences the development of base construction and goes back and forth.” But he believes one of the reasons Ball x Pit is so successful is because it takes the player's time into account. “You always get something. It doesn't ask you to do anything you don't want to do, because at a base level it's very fun to play on both sides of the game loop, and it always gives you something to give back to the other side.”
“It's also not too different from Cult of the Lamb […] And Surviving Vampireswhere it finds the right settings, where it always gives you the opportunity to try something interesting and exciting. It’s not a waste of your time, you’re not working just to grind.” He calls the variety of unlockable characters, buildings, and ball combinations attractive rewards that are handed out with regular frequency. “There are a lot of games that have this kind of loop that aren't as respectful of the player's time.”
Earlier this year Devolver told shareholders it was reducing its investment in select third-party indie games.. In 2022, the average support for a third-party project was $2.99 million; in 2025, according to the publisher's forecasts, it will be $1.73 million, and in 2026 it will drop to $1.04 million. Devolver is far from the only publisher that has switched to lower rates: for example, 11-Bit Studios recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the company began looking for “smaller games that are more flexible” and “cheaper to produce.”
According to Lowry, this is a return to Devolver's roots, and the success of Ball x Pit certainly validates this strategy.
“We've had the most success and done the best work with smaller-scale games,” he explains. “There’s less investment at stake, so you can do something more outside the box. There are fewer risks, both for us and for the developer. Sometimes we're able to find really small, creative, unique, risky games that maybe don't fit into the most traditional box and bring them into the spotlight.”
“Our goal is to continue to find smaller games. Investment is certainly relevant, but smaller games tend to have a more creative vision, are more flexible in their design, and are willing to try what works and abandon what doesn't work in the game. I think it was really helpful. Ball x Pit is proof of that.”
However, Sun remains comfortable with the fact that his game has sold more than a million copies, a figure that many indie developers would struggle to approach. Many would be over the moon if they sold even part of it. So we have to ask: If it's not about success, what does Sun love about making games?
“I've been doing this for so long at this point that I don't know if I can do anything else,” he admits. “But I think a lot of the joy comes from having an idea and then bringing it to life.”
“When it all comes together, it’s a really amazing feeling.”
