The cooperative horror game "Emissary Zero" has received more than 1,700 user reviews on the Steam platform, with a positive rating of 82%, and sales have exceeded 150,000 copies - a result that far exceeded the expectations of its independent developers.According to the developers, the development process of this game can be described as a series of hasty but miraculous experiences.

Independent developer Ron Vine posted a long article on the game development forum section titled "How I Inadvertently Made a Horror Game That Sold 150,000 Copies.""Zero" was originally positioned as a "linear horror game with optional multiplayer mode". It was inspired by the "Five Nights at Freddy's" series and borrowed design elements such as "surveillance cameras, dynamic obstacles, and roaming monsters".

The final product is a "walking simulator with environmental interaction and puzzle elements": players can explore alone or in a team with up to three friends in a mysterious building full of monsters, during which they can pick up and operate various items.

Vine said that the soul-like game "Estencel" he previously developed "took too long", so after quitting his freelance job in 2024 and devoting full-time to the development of "Messenger Zero", he hopes to complete this new work relatively quickly.He wrote in the article: "Even if it fails this time, at least it won't drag on endlessly."

In a reply on Reddit, Vine mentioned: "As an independent developer with limited resources, of course I use a lot of ready-made materials," but he himself actually prefers this development model and has no intention of expanding the team or setting up a studio.He took a year of technology-related courses at university, but said his game development skills were mainly self-taught.

"Messenger Zero" will be released on March 28, 2025.Vine revealed in another Reddit reply: "I was running out of money at the time," and a March release meant the first income would come in May.He noted that when the first payment finally came, "I was broke."The game's release date was already confirmed in January, which means "it's impossible to postpone it any longer."

"The last three months were intense work," he recalled. "Three weeks before release, Steam rejected the build of the game due to copyright issues with one of the characters." The problem apparently lay in the similarity between the design of an enemy and the classic character Slenderman; the game was approved only after the modifications were completed.

"It took a lot of time to communicate with Steam customer service and review the version, but fortunately the problem was solved - two days before release, Steam passed the review of the game version," Vine said.

The heart-wrenching twists and turns and thrilling "last moments" don't stop there.The game's plot events were "finalized two weeks before release," and the actual plot text was "completed three days before release." Other language versions mostly rely on machine translation."The machine translation works surprisingly well - I haven't seen any Steam reviews complaining about the translation quality," Vine said.

According to Vine, there was almost no marketing for the game: there were only a few attempts on the X platform, but they "didn't work very well."The early launch period was "pretty quiet", with Steam reviews being "mixed", with players mainly complaining about optimization and difficulty issues - issues that were later addressed with a quick hotfix.

Vine said that after that, the game's reviews gradually improved, and sales "started well and remained stable." By April, a viral video on TikTok made millions of users aware of the game, and sales "surgeed several times."

As of October 5, the sales volume of "Messenger Zero" has exceeded 150,000 copies, and is still growing.Currently, Vine is "developing a sequel and plans to add new ideas based on the system of this game. This time, we also hope to push the game to the console platform."

"This game was a unique experience," Vine concluded. "It started as a small project and ended up exceeding all expectations. To me, that's success."