A two-person team spent one year developing an “abstract” game that raked in 27 million yuan in just two days.

"You might not believe this, but I've been hooking up with Yu recently."

In the past, I would have definitely thought this was just another abstract new trend that had gone viral for no apparent reason, but the recently released multiplayer party game *How to Fish* is “attempting” to defy the odds.

"The probability that a person with a gun will be killed by a fish is definitely not zero."

Trust me, I’m definitely not trying to be abstract on purpose—it’s just that this game, which ostensibly focuses on multiplayer fishing but is really all about battling fish behind the scenes, is so abstract that you could even call it the “Niu Lai” of the single-player gaming world.

Two days after its official release, *Fishing Frenzy* announced that its total player count had surpassed 1 million.To date, the game has rapidly climbed to No. 1 on Steam’s Global Best-Sellers chart, with a peak concurrent player count exceeding 268,000. Considering that the game was not included in Xbox Game Pass at launch, that 1 million figure should represent actual sales.

In addition, according to the VGI data platform, *Full Throttle Fishing* has sold nearly 900,000 copies and generated total revenue of $3.6 million; taking a margin of error into account, it should be safe to say that the game’s total revenue exceeds $4 million (27 million yuan).

Like many other hit indie games, *Full Throttle Fishing* wasn’t the kind of hit that reached its peak right upon release; in fact, its performance after launch was rather mediocre, with peak concurrent players stabilizing at just over 20,000.

However, the very next day, after the popular international streamer XQC went live to play the game himself, it quickly went viral, and both overall sales and the number of concurrent players soared.

What a “coincidence” with the timing

Unlike many established indie game studios, *Full Throttle Fishing* was developed by just two Swedish game developers, and this is only their second game. According to reports, their previous game, *Out of Hand*, attracted over 200,000 players during its beta testing phase, but received little attention after its official release.

In August 2025,the two were forced to shift their focus to the development of *Fishing Frenzy*. With the help of Sweden Game Startup (a municipal-backed program focused on incubating game startups), they successfully connected with Landfall, the developer of *PEAK*, and secured a non-equity investment. One year later, the game officially launched on Steam,followed by a sensational, dream-like start.

One of the producers said, ““We know how to make games, but we had absolutely no idea how to start a company or how to make money from games. The incubator, mentors, and community taught us all of that. Without Science Park Skövde (the organization that runs Sweden Game Startup), we wouldn’t have had the chance to connect with companies like Landfall. This incubator program is an incredible opportunity for new game creators.”

01

Got into a fight with a dried fish

Are you asking me if *Full Throttle Fishing* is fun?

For someone like me who prefers to go it alone and take on the world by myself, it's not much fun.

This is practically a multiplayer game through and through. The developers haven't set up any public rooms, so if you want to play with others, you have to search for room numbers to team up online—but friends are always the rarest resource in the gaming world.

The game’s visuals feature a low-poly style that’s extremely minimalist yet exudes a slightly abstract beauty. Even the NPCs in the game are hard to describe—but since the players don’t look much better either, it sort of “balances things out” aesthetically.

The game's gameplay framework is very simple: players fish to earn money, acquire better gear, catch more and more dangerous fish, complete missions and challenges, and move on to the next island.

At first glance, it looks like a typical fishing game, but the development team is well aware of the unique preferences of the multiplayer community—they would never allow a game to launch without a twist. As a result, the entire game is centered around the theme of “chaos.”

What does “out of control” mean? You catch a fish, sell it, and earn gold coins—that’s the normal process. You catch a fish, but first you have to fight it—either subdue it right there or let it slip away—and that’s what we call “Full Fishing Power.”

This game seems to be all about fishing, but it saves the real fun for later.Players don’t care what they catch; what matters is how they’ll strategize their battle once they’ve reeled it in. This is especially true in chaotic multiplayer matches where friendly fire is enabled—what starts as a group attack on a single fish can quickly escalate into a deserted island “battle royale” simply because of a single accidental hit.

Are you telling me this is a seahorse?

To add to this element of surprise, the development team even put a lot of effort into designing the weapons.Starting with bare fists, then moving on to tiger claws, daggers, and even explosives, handguns, and shotguns—the further you go, the more outlandish it gets. You can even use a sniper rifle to engage a shark in a long-range duel, or wield a submachine gun in an intense firefight with a whale.

After pulling off flashy sniper shots, headshots, and mid-air kills, you’ll earn even more cash rewards based on the bonus points you’ve earned. This isn’t a fishing game at all—it’s clearly a game about killing fish in all sorts of flashy ways.

During this process, you'll also need to watch out for seagulls in the sky—they might snatch the fish right out of your hands, or they might even snatch you right out of the water.

Taken away by a seagull

Backstabbing among close friends—as the saying goes, "It's easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against a hidden one." I don't know if it was intentional, but I do know that only one of us can survive.

The giant boss’s incredible combat power—have you ever seen a giant crab with that much health? When I saw that health bar longer than my own life, my heart sank.

Health Bars Are Thicker Than Life

Have you ever seen a flying piranha? It seems to me like it’s even more lively than when it’s in the water.

To recreate an authentic experience, the development team went to great lengths to simulate the recoil of firearms, completely fixing the bug that allowed players to shoot with excessive accuracy. Fortunately, with unlimited ammo, you can repeatedly experience the thrill of tracing the outlines of human bodies.

Abstract + Unexpected + Uncontrollable + Innovative—these are the core impressions *Full Throttle Fishing* left on me.On the one hand, you can sense that the developers cut corners on this game’s production costs—they weren’t even willing to add an animation or action for NPCs to accept money, so they simply have players feed leeches, fish, shrimp, and all sorts of unspeakable things directly to the NPCs in exchange for cash.

This image is extremely eerie and abstract.

On the other hand, the feel of the firearm gave me a sense of realism and control comparable to that of a shooting game.

Unbelievable Recoil

No wonder so many players jokingly call it the “Gun Practice Simulator,” saying the correct way to play is to “aim your gun at a fish, then accidentally pull the trigger and hit your friend in the head, and then walk over, slap your friend twice, and tell them they’re not allowed to sleep here.”

From this perspective, the game's massive popularity seems both logical and unexpected.

02

A Long-Awaited Hit

As I mentioned earlier, *Full Throttle Fishing* isn’t the kind of game that looks like a “blockbuster,” and the development team, Dazed Games, has faced a much more winding path to success than one might imagine.

In 2017, the two founders, Carl-Vilhelm Johansson and Melvin Olsson, were studying programming at LBS Kreativa Gymnasium. When the University of Skövde visited the school to give a presentation, their interest in pursuing further education was sparked,The two friends decided to apply together to the university’s “Game Development and Programming” program.

These two guys are the only ones featured on the official website.

During their studies, they created a demo titled *Out of Hand*. In 2023, they applied to join Sweden Game Startup, a Swedish game incubation program, in hopes of further developing the project.

*Out of Hand* was soon released on Steam as a free-to-play game. After a Chinese content creator shared it, the game quickly went viral, attracting over 200,000 players to try it out in a very short time. This gave the two developers a huge boost of confidence, and they decided to devote themselves fully to the project.

But in the summer of 2025, after the paid version of *Out of Hand* was released on Steam, the two were dealt a crushing blow.

Sales can only be described as dismal.

“We released the game in the summer, but sales were very low. One reason was that we weren’t very good at marketing. We continued to update the game’s content, but we soon realized there was no point in continuing to develop it. So last August, we shifted our focus to a new game: *Full Throttle Fishing*,” Carl-Vilhelm explained.

Having learned from their previous experience, they adopted a different marketing strategy for *Full Throttle Fishing*. Early in the project’s development, they began posting weekly videos showcasing new features on various social media platforms. Before long, *Full Throttle Fishing* had built a loyal community.

Videos posted on X

With millions of views on TikTok and Instagram and a Discord server with 1,300 members, they held a pitch session at the Sweden Game Conference in October 2025 in hopes of finding investors.

Over the next week, they reached out to several potential investors. About a month later, while attending the Games Ground expo in Berlin, the game studio Landfall approached them.

Landfall is also a well-known hit-maker.

Melvin Olsson said, “Landfall has always been a huge source of inspiration for us, and we thought it would be great to have them on board. We connected with them through Science Park Skövde, and just one week after the Berlin expo, we signed a project investment agreement to complete the development of *Full Throttle*.”

The publishing director at Landfall also had high praise for *Full Throttle Fishing*: “This game is abstract, chaotic, yet incredibly fun. It feels like a true Landfall-style game, and the developers are passionate about their work. All we can do is make sure we help them bring this game to life.”

It is worth noting that Landfall’s investment is limited to the game project itself and does not include any equity in Dazed Games.

And so, backed by investment from Landfall and extensive support from the Swedish incubator program Sweden Game Startup, *Full Throttle Fishing* caused a huge sensation upon its release, becoming a belated hit.To date, Dazed Games remains headquartered in Gothenburg and is still a member of the Science Park Skövde incubator program (Sweden Game Startup), though it may soon become fully independent.

Science Park Skövde Official Website

Carl-Vilhelm also shared his thoughts on the matter: “We are incredibly grateful for all the support and connections we’ve gained through the incubation program.Without Sweden Game Startup, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The game development community in Skövde is an incredible support system for anyone who wants to make games. We’re just two programmers, and as newcomers to the industry, we’ve received a lot of support from professionals in other areas of game development.”

Conclusion

Nowadays, it has become commonplace for small teams to create hit games that sell tens of millions of copies by leveraging low-cost, creative indie titles.From Landfall’s latest title, *PEAK*, to the previously wildly successful *Super Chameleon*—which sold 20 million copies—and now *Fishing Frenzy*, which sold 1 million copies in just two hours, both game concepts and target audiences are becoming increasingly sophisticated.Compared to higher-end 2A and 3A titles, these multiplayer party indie games have lower costs, fewer risks, and shorter development cycles, making them more appealing to a large number of game developers looking to try their hand at this genre.

From the hit products mentioned above, it’s not hard to identify some general principles. For example, an ultra-low-price strategy, a low barrier to entry, rules centered on multiplayer battles, and casual PvP gameplay that encourages repeated play.

Market trends are constantly shifting, and players' tastes will always change, but one thing that never changes is the immediate, pure joy that a great game can bring.

参考资料来源：https://swedengamearena.com/en/news/dazed-games-secures-project-investment-and-sets-sights-2026-launch/