While Shapez 2 is now a mega hit on Steam, its developer actually did everything wrong regarding the platform.
Who is it about? Tobias Springer is a German indie developer and the mastermind behind the factory game Shapez 2. However, the fact that he is still developing video games today is almost a miracle. Because with his first game, Shapez, the developer actually did everything wrong.
Today he knows that and explains in an interview with GamesRadar: “Basically, I ignored everything one should do to be successful.” Nevertheless, he made his title Shapez a success on Steam and sold over 2 million copies, but it was a long road until that happened.
Here you can watch the trailer for Shapez 2:
Rejected five times, on the sixth time just pushed through
Why was he rejected? The developer originally didn’t want to publish his indie title on Steam at all to avoid complicating his work. The commercial success wasn’t that important to him either. But when he eventually tried, Steam rejected his request for early access – five times.
The reasoning sounds trivial: no good reasons for early access. Instead of trying a sixth time, the developer skipped the early access and released his game as a full version – a trick to prevent Steam from rejecting the title again.
From a PR perspective, this was not a good idea, as only 3,000 players had his title on their wishlist at the time of release, and without an early access tag, buyers didn’t know that Shapez was still unfinished.
However, the title convinced even in its unfinished state with its quality. In the first 45 days on Steam, the game achieved 97% positive reviews. The title spread by word of mouth and press and content creators took notice, making it a long-running success.
Even after the success, the developer considered quitting, worked as a freelancer, and even ran a Mexican restaurant in between, instead of focusing on the title. The turnaround only came thanks to the video game funding from the federal government, which offered to cover 50% of the development costs, allowing him, with his new team of 15, to release the sequel Shapez 2.
What kind of game is this? Shapez and Shapez 2 are factory building and automation games where you simply build the perfectly optimized factory. In this regard, the titles differ significantly from genre giants like Factorio and Satisfactory.
There are no opponents, no time limits, and no scarce resources in Shapez and its sequel. Instead, the challenge consists of logistics puzzles. Shapez 2 wants to let its players happily build a perfect factory without having to deal with things like combat.
The title is currently on sale for €23.19 on Steam until May 7, 2026, before the promotion ends and the title will be offered again for €28.99.
That Shapez would become such a success story ultimately owes itself to the game funding that brought the talented developer out of the restaurant and into game development, thus creating a mega hit from Germany. Another developer is probably retiring now: Controversial developer releases today the last work of his career on Steam, letting you play God
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