Well it's been a good year.
First off, this week marked a major milestone for us when Bastion sailed past half a million copies sold.
Recent holiday sales on Steam and Xbox LIVE Arcade put us over the top. We're happy to have this many people playing and to be in a position to make more games on our own terms. When we set out to make Bastion, a sales number like that seemed astronomical to us, so it feels great to have hit that mark. It goes to show that a lot of folks out there like what we're doing and want us to keep going, which is great, because we intend to stick together as a team and do just that.
What's more, we're honored to see Bastion getting plenty of attention in various Game of the Year awards lists across all kinds of different publications including some big old mainstream ones. We wanted to make a memorable game so it's great to see this level of recognition.
Awards for Bastion: Here's a list of the dozens of different publications who've recognized Bastion for various year-end accolades:
Game Developers Choice Awards - Best Debut, Best Downloadable Game
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences - Downloadable Title of the Year
Associated Press – Top 10 Games of the Year
Entertainment Weekly – Best Videogames of 2011
USA Today – Top 10 Games of 2011
NPR – Ten Best Video Games of 2011
Wired – Top 20 Best Games of the Year
Paste Magazine – Game of the Year
Boston Herald - Best Game of 2011
A.V. Club - 10 Best Games of 2011
ScienceFiction.com – Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Video Games of 2011
Spike VGAs – Best Downloadable Game, Best Original Score, Best Song
Inside Gaming Awards - Best Downloadable Game, Best Indie Game, Best Original Score
VentureBeat - Best Indie Games of 2011
Giant Bomb - Best Music, Best Debut Game, Best Downloadable Game, Top 10
TotalBiscuit - #1 Game of 2011
UGO - Best Downloadable Game of the Year
Yahoo - Best Downloadable Game
Game Audio Network Guild - Best Soundtrack (Indie), Rookie of the Year
MSNBC - 5 Great Games for the Art Lover
Game Informer - Best RPG Innovation (The Narrator)
Eurogamer - Games of 2011, Pick
Kill Screen - Best Games of 2011, Pick
Official Xbox Magazine - Best Music
Team Xbox - XBLA Game of the Year
Quartertothree – Game of the Year
New York Videogame Critics Circle - Best Music, Best Indie Game
NAVGTR - Original Role-Playing Game, Best Performance in a Comedy
XBLA Fans - Best Audio, Best Visuals
Xbox 360 Achievements - Best Arcade Game
Zero Punctuation - Top 5 of 2011
Electric Playground - Best Downloadable Game
Rock Paper Shotgun - The Games of Christmas
Boy's Life Magazine - Best Downloadable Game
IndieDB - Worldly Award for Best Gameworld, Players Choice Top 10
Gamereactor UK - Digital GOTY, Music of the Year
HorribleNight - Best Downloadable Game, Best Soundtrack, Indie Developer of the Year
IndieGames.com – Top 10 Indie Games of the Year
The Escapist – 12 Games of Christmas
/v/GA Vidya Gaem Awards - Eargasm Award, Stylish Aesthetics Award, Most Interesting New IP
Reaction Time - Best Downloadable, Best Voice Acting, Best Soundtrack
TrendyGamers - Downloadable GOTY
Gamezebo.com - Best PC Game of 2011
XBLARatings - XBLA Game of the Year
Press X or Die - Game of the Year
Video Game Writers - Best Indie Game
GameCola.net - Most Innovative, Best Indie Game, Best Downloadable Game
Unwinnable.com - Best Surprise Indie Darling
Ripten - Best Downloadable Game, Biggest Surprise
Reviews on the Run - Best Downloadable Game
Capsule Computers - Best Downloadable Game
IndieGameReviewer.com - Best Indie Game of the Year
GamingUnion.net - Best New IP, Best Indie Game, Best Indie Developer
TIGSource - Top Indie Game of 2011 (by Community Vote)
RPGamer.com - RPG of the Year, Most Original Game, Best Downloadable Game
NeoGAF - Digital Distribution Game of the Year
gamrFeed - Best Downloadable Game, Best XBLA Game
The Game Effect - Best Indie Game, Best Original IP, Best Musical Score, Best Story
RPGFan - Best Downloadable RPG
TrueAchievements.com - Best XBLA Game
The Thrifty Nerd - Top 10 Games of 2011
Media Kick - Readers Choice, Best Downloadable Game
Kotaku Australia – Readers Choice, Indie Downloadable GOTY
Level Save - Game of the Year Pick
Click Online - Top 7 Pleasant Surprises
Piki Geek - Top 10 Best of the Year
Press2Reset - Best Soundtrack, Best Song
The Sixth Axis - Best Downloadable Game
MiddleEast Gamers - Best Indie Game
The Cross and the Controller - Best Downloadable Game, Best Voice Acting
Kotaku - Pick, Best Game Music of 2011
Gamercast - Top Downloadable Game
We Got This Covered - Best XBLA/PSN Game
Bishop's Gaming World - Best Soundtrack, Top 10 Games of the Year
Infinite Ammo - Top 10 Games of 2011
Mash Those Buttons - Best Arcade Game of 2011
RPG Site - Indie RPG of the Year, Surprise of the Year, Best Soundtrack in a 2011 RPG
Tom's Hardware Turkey - Most Original Game, Best Narrative, Best Original Score
Whew... did we miss anybody? Let us know and we'll update this list accordingly.
Thanks again to all of you for making this a year we'll always remember, and here's to a great 2012.