Mewgenics recoups seven-year development budget within three hours of Steam launch

Mewgenics tops Steam charts and recovers full development budget three hours after release

Mewgenics has recouped its entire seven-year development budget within three hours of launch, according to co-creator Tyler Glaiel.

The long-delayed indie title launched on Steam at around 5pm UTC on February 10, immediately climbing to the number one global top seller position.

Within hours, it had overtaken titles including Counter-Strike 2 and Helldivers 2 on the platform’s sales chart.

Glaiel confirmed the milestone on X, writing: “We have made back our development budget after 3 hours. Thank you all :)”

Originally announced in 2012 as Team Meat’s follow-up to Super Meat Boy, Mewgenics became associated with prolonged development challenges after disappearing and later being revived in 2018 by Edmund McMillen and Glaiel.

Its release date of February 10 2026 was confirmed during the PC Gaming Show, with the game launching at a price of $29.99. Instead of offering pre-orders, the team focused on building wishlists ahead of release.

Early critical reception has placed the game at around a 90 Metascore, making it one of the highest-rated releases of 2026 so far.

Reviewers highlighted its generational cat-breeding systems, tactical gameplay and overall scope, with some suggesting it could occupy players for hundreds of hours.

Player numbers reflected the early momentum. Fewer than eight hours after launch, concurrent users on Steam had exceeded 60,000.

Speaking in a recent AMA, McMillen described the project’s earlier cancellation as “was quite depressing” and said completing it now felt like “a ‘SEE I TOLD YOU SO!’” He added that the average player could expect “200+ hours to beat the game” and indicated that discussions around downloadable content would take place once feedback from players had been assessed.