Indie Japanese developer Lafrontier/noa has revealed Elin, their Elona prequel, has sold over 350,000 copies.

It seems like the Elona prequel is just as popular as the original niche sandbox RPG, which itself became very popular. Elin was released in early access for Windows PC (via Steam) back in November 2024.

While the scope of Elin is pretty grandiose like its predecessor, it has only cost $20/3000 yen since release, which the developer says likely helped its success. The game sold 200,000 copies in its first year and another 150,000 last year.

Elin, like the first game, is a solo developer project, with Lafrontier/noa toiling away with consistent updates, which they attribute to its success.

“Originally, we envisioned Elin as a game that would gradually gain players through updates rather than relying on a big launch impact,” noa said in an interview. “Consequently, we didn’t do any particular promotion, so the initial sales figures were surprising. I believe the widespread awareness gained through the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and the large number of dedicated Elona players were major factors.”

They added, “Even last year, after the initial momentum settled, sales remained stable with little monthly fluctuation. In terms of achieving our core goal of “sustained player growth,” this stability feels more important.”

Lastly, the solo creator behind Elin said he hopes even more players give the game a chance.

“Though I don’t know when it will happen, I secretly hold “One Million Little Sisters!” (Little Sisters = Players) as a goal,” no said. “It’s more of an aspiration than a commercial target. Having been saved by games since the Famicom era, I feel nothing but honor when titles I was once obsessed with appear alongside Elin on Steam, or when we get even a little closer to standing on the same stage. And of course, I’m simply happy whenever even one more person plays my game.”