As more and more players discovered Undertale, the game's numbers kept climbing fast.
It had already made its way onto the recommended lists of several third-party platforms.
Even though Lucas, just like in his past life, wasn't a fan of these parallel-world platforms...
Right now, putting Undertale on those platforms was all upside and no downside. You'd have to be a fool to leave that money on the table.
Even if he had plans to shake up the industry, one thing was always part of the game:
Money.
So Lucas chose a few third-party stores that were willing to be flexible.
Even though he was a newcomer in the dev world...
He wasn't just any ordinary game dev.
First off, Mirror had already guaranteed him a solid base. On top of that, the drama with Bell gave Undertale a big head start in visibility.
So some platforms were even willing to adjust their cut of the revenue.
That was one of the main reasons Lucas agreed to work with them.
And based on how things were going, Undertale's sales were looking fantastic.
...
While Lucas kept an eye on the numbers…
A lot of indie devs in the scene were also shaken up by Undertale.
In a small chat group for indie developers:
"Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP! I can only describe Undertale with three 'holy craps.' I used to think Bell had a point—like, what kind of good game could this Lucas guy make? But now? Man, it's insane!"
"What's going on? Is it really that good? Are the scores fake?"
"Fake? You serious? Maybe from a third-party site, but try faking a score on the official platform."
"Exactly. Don't talk nonsense. If someone's faking, go fake one on the official store—I dare you. Don't be surprised when your dev account gets blacklisted."
"If you haven't played it yet, you really should. It blew me away—I can only call it unbelievable."
"Honestly, I was planning to release my own game next week, but now... I think I need to take more time polishing it."
"Is it really that good?"
"How do I put it... at first glance, it just looks like a simple game. But it actually has multiple endings. The first time through, it hits hard. The second time, with the peaceful ending, it feels warm. The third time, with the genocide route... it made me cry."
"People used to say Mirror changed the adult game scene—I laughed at that. But Undertale? I think it might actually kick off a whole trend in this kind of gameplay."
"Isn't that going a little too far? Are we really calling it genre-defining now?"
"It may not have created a whole new genre, but it definitely brought it into the spotlight—and I believe that in the future, when people talk about this kind of game, Undertale will be a name no one can ignore."
As people kept chatting, someone suddenly dropped a link in the group chat.
"Stop talking—check Lucas's official account!"
"Holy crap! Is he even human?"
"Great reviews and high sales?!"
"Only 3 days in and it's already sold over 100,000 copies? That's insane!"
Everyone clicked the link, and sure enough, it was Lucas's official post.
Just a simple thank-you message related to Undertale.
"Thanks to all the players for your support. Undertale has officially passed 100,000 copies sold—but this isn't the end!"
Lucas didn't bother hiding the numbers.
For one, it wasn't some big secret. In a few days, third-party analytics firms would probably report something close anyway—might not be exact, but not far off.
And more importantly, it was a great chance to boost the game's visibility. With such good word-of-mouth, it was the perfect time to add fuel to the fire.
Sharing the numbers was clearly a smart way to stir up discussion.
Once Lucas posted the sales figures, it wasn't just indie devs paying attention anymore.
The media started taking notice too.
A small unknown indie game, made by a guy known for adult games, who also got into a public spat with another dev…
The buzz was too strong to ignore.
And Undertale's stats were just incredible.
Some media outlets that had brushed it off before were now eating their words.
As for regular players who had tried the game?
They only had one thing to say—Undertale truly deserved all its praise.
The characters left a deep impression, especially the ending. It hit so hard.
Before playing, no one could've imagined a game could do something like this.
Everyone felt like they were witnessing something historic.
Undertale might end up being a milestone in indie game history.
Meanwhile, other media outlets scrambled to publish headlines like:
"100K Copies Sold in 3 Days! A 9.9 Rating!"
"An Indie Masterpiece—A Must-Play for All Gamers!"
"A Unique RPG That Breaks All the Rules!"
"Player: I Didn't Play the Game, the Game Played Me!"
"An Unbelievable Game with Unbelievable Results!"
"The First Playthrough Shocked Me, The Second Warmed My Heart, The Third Broke Me, and The Fourth Made Me Think."
No doubt about it—Undertale was a hit.
At first, it was just media and player praise.
Then it spread within the game dev community, since Undertale's design was totally different from other games.
Not just in terms of story, but also how that story was told.
Take Flowey, for example—he felt like he was talking directly to the player through the screen.
That kind of design opened a window for every game developer who saw it.
To be honest, the original Undertale wasn't even full of META elements.
Outside of the intro and the ending, the middle of the game was really focused on telling the stories of Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and the others.
And that's what gave Undertale a deeper sense of immersion than most META-heavy games.
When the secret of the ending is finally revealed, it hits the player with a huge emotional shock.
And after each ending, the game quietly leaves behind something deeper—something to reflect on, something philosophical.
This is the biggest feature of META games.
If we're just talking about meta elements, Undertale isn't as extreme as games like The Stanley Parable or Pony Island.
But in this parallel world, the idea of meta games hasn't even started to take shape.
So Undertale's meta design, combined with its story, hits players way harder than it did in the world Lucas came from.
And once streaming platforms and video sites started showing parts of Undertale to the public, it only made the hype grow even more.
(End of Chapter)
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