Experimental indie game Dear Esther is profitable - less than six hours after going on sale.

It sold over 16,000 units during its first day on sale (yesterday), its creators announced this afternoon.

thechineseroom and Robert Briscoe's £6.99 first-person ghost story paid off its financial backing from Indie Fund in just under five and a half hours after strong sales on Valve digital download platform Steam.

Dear Esther was originally released in 2008 as a mod for Half-Life 2 developed as part of a research project at the University of Portsmouth.

In 2009 Briscoe, a former environment artist on Mirror's Edge, took the project on, overhauling the visuals and level design for release as a commercial game.

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-15-indie-game-dear-esther-profitable-in-less-than-six-hours

Good for them!

click me

i'd love to see gameplay. i say the reveiw on GI but can't remember wht it was

Bought it, hooked up my pc to my 92" projection screen. At full detail, 1080p60 it's an incredible experience.
There is no gameplay really, you wander the beautiful island while listening to fragments of the story. There are clues to be found around the island, although it is a pretty linear affair.
The scenery is hauntingly beautiful though, the lighting in the caves is unbelievably good.

I found this a very well fitting balanced review.
http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/games/2012-02/14/dear-esther

The whole thing lasts about as long as a movie, but it's well worth the $10 imo.