Twitch Plays release model spurs Punch Club to $1m revenue in 10 days

Developer Lazy Bear Games refused to release the PC and iOS title until it was completed via an audience-controlled live stream

Lazy Bear Games’ unusual release model for its latest game may have raised eyebrows, but it also appears to have raised profits.

The Russian studio launched iOS and PC ‘choose your own adventure boxing management tycoon’ title Punch Club at the start of January.

However, there was a catch – the only way to initially play the game was via a live stream on Twitch, with the audience collectively inputting directions via the popular ‘Twitch Plays’ format.

Lazy Bear and publisher Tinybuild refused to release the game elsewhere until the stream finished the game, which it did days later. Punch Club was launched on Steam on January 8th, with an iOS release on January 14th.

10 days after its Steam launch, Lazy Bear has now revealed that Punch Club has achieved more than 100,000 sales across all platforms, to the tune of over $1 million – some of which may be attributed to the title’s quirky roll-out plan.

An Android release is due on January 28th, with a ‘huge’ content update slated for the end of February.