How a struggling console translated into high sales for Rain Games' Teslagrad

While sales of the Wii U system itself have been less than impressive, one developer notes that the console’s unique ecosystem can provide indie games with a space to thrive.

During a livestreamed interview, Rain Games CEO Peter Wingaard Meldahl offered a look back at just how the Wii U ended up becoming the most profitable platform for the studio’s first game, Teslagrad.

As explored in the video above, Meldahl notes that Teslagrad’s Wii U success was partly due to the fact a large chunk of the game’s audience owned the system, but he says that a huge boost came from how much visibility the game was able to get from Nintendo’s eShop itself. 

“There was not many titles released for [the Wii U], comparatively. Indie titles actually got a good visibility on the platform.” Meldahl explains that Teslagrad sat in each of the top two slots on Nintendo’s storefront for a couple weeks. “That wouldn’t have been the case on any other platform.” 

He shares more about the bounty reaped from Teslagrad's Wii U release in the video above and talks at length about the intricacies of creating the studio's latest game, World to the West, in the full Twitch stream. And for more developer interviews like this, as well as editor roundtables and gameplay commentary, be sure to follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel.