{"site":"Yomimono","license":"CC BY 4.0 (citation required)","generated_at":"2026-05-26T08:01:00.416Z","story":{"id":"r_37b3c152aa764e6193a17db2","slug":"open-world-rpg-kenshi-surpasses-3-million-sales","url":"https://yomimono.id/open-world-rpg-kenshi-surpasses-3-million-sales","headline":"Open-World RPG Kenshi Surpasses 3 Million Sales","summary":"Lo-Fi Games announced on May 26 that the open-world RPG 'Kenshi' has sold over 3 million units. The game, developed solo by Chris Hunt, entered early access on Steam in 2013 and was fully released in 2018. It is set in a post-civilization world where the player starts as the weakest entity and must choose how to survive, whether as a merchant, farmer, bounty hunter, or bandit. On Steam, it holds an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating with 95% positive reviews out of approximately 95,000. The game reached 1 million sales in September 2020 and 2.3 million in April 2024. Hunt reportedly developed it for about four years while working as a night security guard, turning down publisher contracts to release it himself. Concurrent players, which hovered around 300 for five years, surged from 2018, peaking over 10,000 in June 2019, and remain around 5,000 as of 2026. To celebrate the milestone, Lo-Fi Games revealed merchandise including Beep plushies, posters, and a Japan-exclusive 'Kenshi sake' collaboration with KURAND, releasing at the end of June. The sequel 'Kenshi 2' was announced in 2019, but no new details are available; a site 'Kenshi 2 WHEN?' allows fans to register for updates. A Steam sale offering 72% off, bringing the price to 980 yen, runs until June 2.","why_it_matters":"A single developer's self-published title, built over years of part-time work, has reached a sales milestone that rivals many studio-backed releases, demonstrating the long-tail viability of niche, high-freedom game design.","published_at":"2026-05-26T06:15:55.000Z","source_count":2,"sources":["Automaton","Denfaminicogamer"],"citations":[{"source":"Automaton","title":"Ultra-Free Open World RPG 'Kenshi' Surpasses 3 Million Sales: Indie Developer's Solo Creation Achieves Major Milestone","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260526-445193/"},{"source":"Denfaminicogamer","title":"Highly Free Open-World RPG 'Kenshi' on Sale at 72% Off, Its Biggest Discount Ever, for 980 Yen; Player Count Surpasses 3 Million","url":"https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/news/260526h"}],"license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false}}}