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Prospects seemed promising for the space exploration title. Its concept: Starbound meets Pokémon. Explore space, build homes, and collect and raise extraterrestrial creatures.

A decade's worth of development helped the game secure just over 138,000 user wishlists on Steam. Early Access Steam reviews were mostly positive ahead of its official launch. In late 2024, the cooperative adventure title exited development, debuting on Steam for a reasonable $14.99. The creators did not anticipate huge sales, but they never imagined to only move 581 units in a seven-day period.

“It was unclear to us why before now,” Laurent Lechat stated on social media.

Apparently, it was a freak accident. The two-person team behind Planet Centauri liken it to a lottery win, except awful. As explained by the developers, Valve contacted the French duo recently to inform them that the platform did not alert players who had wishlisted the game.

The game's launch visibility was severely limited. Interest in Planet Centauri appeared present, especially since its release video achieved nearly 500,000 views on YouTube. However, the people who had already expressed enthusiasm were unaware the game was available. Missing those initial purchases, the title could not reach tabs like New and Trending, let alone Top-Selling Games. The game was practically dead on arrival.

Speaking to media outlets, Lechat says that the team spent months feeling “intense” frustration, and that the developers were “questioning themselves” and felt a “drop in morale.”

“We are of course fully conscious of our own responsibility in the result,” he added, “but 500 sales in 5 days was utterly baffling.”

Prior to the game’s 1.0 release, Planet Centauri had moved around 103,000 copies. This figure sounds impressive, except it was accrued over the course of about a decade. Exiting the early access period was supposed to kick things up a notch. Statistics show that games launched through early access and have a 1.0 launch generate higher revenue than those with a standard release — of course, if they perform well.

The two developers, Boris, his collaborator, had devoted many years living together to reduce expenses during the creation of Planet Centauri. Laurent had to sell his car, and they both made efforts to avoid luxuries. Lately, one relocated to a faraway village while Lechat continues shares housing.

“All of this together let us persevere for these 10+ years despite limited funds,” he noted.

Learning of the glitch might've been heartbreaking enough to send Lechat into a rage on online forums, but Valve aims to make things right. The development team is being offered placement on the platform’s Daily Deal to “make up for missed exposure from your release date,” Valve said in an email. A daily deal would show up as a notification for all Steam users, if not on the platform’s main page, as well as on pages highlighting current discounts.

Does offering a title at a discount really rectify a decade of work, though? The studio felt uncertain if it was going to bite, especially after all that occurred.

“I lack the energy to be angry,” he expressed on Reddit. “We've been so disheartened, dismayed, and in complete bewilderment.”

It was an understandable reaction, but the feedback the studio got from other developers suggested that a Daily Deal could help turn things around, if not emotionally, then at least financially. One developer told them that they saw a tenfold increase in their typical earnings from a daily deal, and another said a Steam Daily Deal had the most significant boost on their game they had ever seen. If the studio followed that up with content patches and regular discounts, they could start inching their way back to a better situation.

“Players don't closely follow games,” an observer suggested. “People will see this and think it's your official release. You can even share the story for those that look into it deeper.”

Upon reflection, the developer stated they're going for it. What's the worst? To some extent, the developers have shifted focus. They're working on a fresh project, which they hope to release in a year: a roguelike based on the identical framework as Planet Centauri. The team says that it is under financial obligation to complete that project, and that doing so will help them bring future patches to Planet Centauri. As it is, due to the poor commercial performance, the studio was unable to rationalize continuing to update a game that wasn't financially solvent.

“It's possible that Steam could have offered something greater,” Lechat tells outlets. “Maybe the daily deal is, actually, a great gift even with its short 24-hour duration. We are unsure, and we will wait optimistically for the positive outcome. But regardless, the situation stands, and we won't change it, so we might as well accept everything, pause and progress.”