Braid, Anniversary Edition, was released in May 2024, offering nostalgic players a chance to revisit the groundbreaking 2008 platformer or potential newcomers a chance to dive in. However, the lofty re-release of the game was not as successful as its creator Jonathan Blow had hoped, with the developer lamenting its low sales.
Compiled by YouTuber Blow Fan and shared by Knoebel on X (Thanks, It will reset), the clips show Blow’s expectations and thoughts after the game’s release. They’re a pretty grim reminder that even with a recognizable name and product, no one is guaranteed success. It’s tough to pin down exact numbers, but Braid, Anniversary Edition peaked at 570 players on Steam around launch, and we can’t imagine there being that many on consoles.
Blow grimly reveals that even if publisher/developer Thekla had released the game exclusively on Steam, saving the cost of porting it to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms, sales would still have been pathetically low. That’s also a shame. We really enjoyed revisiting an influential title that boasts over 15 hours of insightful, cleverly presented developer commentary, but it seems the prospect of dual-immersion was a tough sell.
