Mamon King, a monster-raising simulator inspired by the Monster Rancher series, has outperformed developer LiTMUS’s expectations. What was once a risky venture co-designed and co-produced with Japanese gaming YouTuber Yoshinama has since exceeded its initial sales projections sixfold, selling a total of 60,000 copies in just nine days.
According to an official press release by LiTMUS, Mamon King previously held the top spot in the Japan Steam store Top Sellers list and was the second most-downloaded piece of software on the Japan My Nintendo Store. Though the title has since dropped to 91st place on Steam and 41st place on the My Nintendo Store, both LiTMUS and Yoshinama are proud that the title has reached its intended audience.
Interest in Mamon King grew after an impassioned Yoshinama decided to invest 25 million JPY (roughly $160,000 USD) of his own money into his dream game. Despite not knowing much about game development, his eagerness to learn and see the project through drove LiTMUS game director Yu Totsuka to give him and Mamon King a chance.
Totsuka admitted that Mamon King was initially a low-priority project due to its genre and scale. Upon hearing how determined Yoshinama was to push through with the game despite the risks, however, Totsuka decided to partner with the YouTuber to make the latter’s dream game come true.
Speaking to AUTOMATON JAPAN, Totsuka was astonished at Mamon King’s sales numbers and thanked the community for the support:
“I thought to myself that we could realistically aim for up to 30,000 copies in a year, but 10,000 (in a week) was undeniably a very high hurdle. I didn’t want to get people’s hopes up, so I kept quiet. I was astonished when I found out that we sold 60,000 copies in just one week. This is all thanks to the community Yoshinama-san built and everyone who supports that community. Thank you so much. We’re currently preparing for an update, so please continue supporting Mamon King!”
Yoshinama also expressed his gratitude to players:
I’m genuinely shocked by the first week’s sales exceeding expectations. I believe this is because my fellow streamers, friends, and even people I’ve never interacted with played Mamon King, further increasing the chances for others to learn about this game. I can’t thank you all enough. I plan to bet everything on the next project with these sales and create an even better game! Please continue supporting Mamon King.
As mentioned by the two developers, Mamon King will receive a future update that expands on the base game. Likewise, all of the money Yoshinama receives from the title’s sales will be put into crafting another, even better game. A physical Nintendo Switch edition of Mamon King is also in the works, so fans have something to look forward to in the coming years.
Mamon King is available on Windows (Steam) and Nintendo Switch.
