Balatro and Hollow Knight: Silksong “shouldn’t exist,” according to industry analyst Joost van Dreunen. He elaborated that, “They don’t make rational sense financially, and yet somehow they are deeply loved.” Their commercial viability is an undeniable fact. However, the scale of their success baffles industry conventional wisdom.
Van Drunen is professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and a strategic advisor for the community development agency ELO. In an interview with GameIndustry.biz, van Dreunen discussed how the shifting macroeconomics of video games is creating space for smaller projects to become massive successes. He compares the shift to the way television challenged the Hollywood business model. Free-to-play games like Candy Crush compete with, and even undermine, big-budget blockbusters like GTA or Call of Duty. Yet, there are an increasing number of games that skirt outside either model, such as Silksong.
The lower-tech production values of some indie games may also be a big asset. Van Dreunen said, “I’m a big fan of the idea that low tech is a much more interesting design factor than high tech. I think, demonstrably, whenever new technology comes out, what studios tend to do is just increase the final product. They make it more complex, and therefore they negate the productivity gains.” Perhaps Balatro and Silksong can be impressive with smaller budgets and development teams because they leverage the productivity shifts bigger studios would use to expand their efforts.
Furthermore, whatever the exact reasons, van Dreunen claimed that it’s obvious people want smaller, engaging games at the same price point as Balatro or Silksong. Van Dreunen said, “I think increasingly it’s clear that what people want is a $20 Silksong game that’s challenging, but it doesn’t have to make my eyes bleed in order for me to want it.”
Balatro was one of the most downloaded App Store games in 2025. In other news, Silksong is getting a free expansion called Sea of Sorrow.