Kimmo Lahtinen spent 13 years at Housemarque working on acclaimed games like Resogun, Nex Machina, and Returnal before leaving to pursue his own vision. That vision became Sektori, an intense twin-stick shooter that launched November 18, 2025, to overwhelming critical praise. The game sits at 97% positive reviews on Steam with over 100 reviews and around 90 on Metacritic. It’s being called one of the best modern twin-stick shooters, with glowing coverage from gaming outlets and podcasts. By any reasonable metric, Sektori is a success. Except for one critical problem: after 4.5 years of full-time development, Lahtinen still hasn’t paid himself a single dollar in salary.
The Brutal Math of Indie Development
In a candid post one week after launch, Lahtinen shared the financial reality behind his passion project. The game is nearing the point where it covers indirect costs and overhead expenses, which is progress. But those categories don’t include compensation for the developer actually making the game. To reach even minimum wage for 4.5 years of work would require substantial additional sales beyond simply breaking even on expenses.
This reveals the uncomfortable truth about indie game development that often gets glossed over in success stories. When you read about a solo developer spending years on a project, that person either had significant savings to burn through, outside financial support from family or partners, took on massive debt, or cobbled together freelance work while building their game on nights and weekends. The romantic notion of the starving artist translates poorly when you need to pay rent, buy groceries, and handle medical emergencies.
Lahtinen’s situation is particularly striking because he did everything right. He brought 13 years of AAA experience from one of gaming’s most respected studios. He created a polished, focused game that plays to his strengths rather than attempting something wildly ambitious beyond his capabilities. The game has superb reviews, strong word-of-mouth, coverage from major gaming outlets, and enthusiastic support from the twin-stick shooter community. And still, the numbers don’t work out to paying himself minimum wage for those years of labor.
What Makes Sektori Special
The game itself deserves the praise it’s receiving. Sektori is a twin-stick shooter infused with hard-hitting techno music where every element works in harmony to create what reviewers describe as an almost trance-like state of flow. You pilot one of three ships through constantly evolving battlefields, choosing upgrades from a dynamic list while dodging enemies and projectiles in colorful geometric chaos.
What sets it apart from other twin-stick shooters is the randomization layered with deliberate strategy. Each run feels familiar because the core mechanics remain consistent, but the combination of handcrafted attack waves, dynamically changing level geometry, and randomized boss behaviors creates unique challenges every time. The upgrade system adds another layer, forcing split-second decisions about whether to cash in tokens for immediate power boosts or hold them for more valuable upgrades higher in the queue.
The campaign mode showcases brilliant design where the battlefield morphs in real-time. You start in a small arena that gradually transforms into different shapes as you progress, with floor lighting warning you seconds before the geometry shifts. There are no loading screens or interruptions. The action flows continuously from one configuration to the next while enemy waves assault you and bosses evolve through multiple attack patterns.
Lahtinen’s Housemarque pedigree shows in every aspect. The game feels like a spiritual successor to Resogun and Nex Machina, genres Housemarque pioneered before pivoting to third-person shooters with Returnal. For fans who missed those geometric shooters, Sektori delivers exactly what they’ve been craving with modern polish and smart roguelike elements.
The Audience Challenge
One interesting detail Lahtinen shared is that analytics show players under 25 aren’t engaging with the game as much as older audiences. He described it as a “dad’s tribute band” of gaming, aimed at players who grew up with arcade shooters and appreciate tight, focused experiences over sprawling open worlds or live service progression systems.
This demographic reality impacts sales potential significantly. Younger players dominate gaming discussions on social media, drive viral trends, and represent the growth segment of the gaming market. A game that specifically appeals to players 25 and older is targeting a smaller, more fragmented audience that’s harder to reach through typical marketing channels.
The game also intentionally leaves many mechanics unexplained, expecting players to experiment, discover systems on their own, or discuss strategies with the community. This design philosophy resonates with older players who remember when games didn’t hold your hand through extensive tutorials. But it’s created confusion for some buyers who expected more guidance, as Lahtinen noted with surprise. The generational divide in game design expectations shows up even in reviews, with some players praising the trust placed in them to figure things out while others feel lost.
The Risk Versus Reward Debate
Discussion around Lahtinen’s financial situation inevitably brings up the “you knew the risks” argument. It’s true that independent developers choose to take on these projects knowing that commercial success isn’t guaranteed. Nobody forced Lahtinen to leave a stable job at Housemarque to spend 4.5 years on a niche twin-stick shooter.
But this perspective misses important context. Lahtinen entered the project knowing he probably wouldn’t recoup costs. He viewed Sektori as his signature work, something he needed to create regardless of commercial viability. The game performing better than expected has given him hope he didn’t have before, which he describes as dangerous because now there’s a possibility of actually making this sustainable rather than accepting it as a passion project that cost him years of income.
The broader issue is that this model is completely unsustainable for the health of the industry. When even critically acclaimed games from experienced developers can’t generate enough revenue to pay minimum wage, something is fundamentally broken. The market is so saturated and discoverability so challenging that excellence isn’t enough. You also need lightning-in-a-bottle viral momentum, influential streamer coverage, or pure luck with timing and platform featuring.
What Happens Next
Lahtinen expressed hope that Sektori continues selling, which is crucial because the game needs substantial long-tail sales to reach sustainability. The initial launch window generated excellent reviews and awareness, but twin-stick shooters aren’t typically games that explode into mainstream consciousness. They build audiences gradually through word-of-mouth within dedicated communities.
The game has several factors working in its favor. The overwhelmingly positive reviews provide social proof for potential buyers. Coverage from gaming podcasts and outlets continues spreading awareness. The genre has a dedicated fanbase that actively seeks out quality entries. And the game offers genuine replayability through multiple difficulty modes, alternate ships, challenge modes, and the randomization that makes each run feel fresh.
Working against it is the reality that games have incredibly short attention spans in today’s market. New releases flood Steam daily. Discount expectations train players to wishlist games and wait for sales rather than buying at launch. The algorithm rewards early momentum, so games that don’t achieve viral success quickly often fade from visibility regardless of quality.
Lahtinen’s transparency about his financial situation might actually help. Some developers prefer not discussing money publicly, fearing it makes them look unprofessional or desperate. But his honest breakdown of the economics resonated with other developers who face identical struggles and humanized the game for potential buyers who might not have realized the personal stakes behind every indie release.
FAQs
What is Sektori?
Sektori is an intense twin-stick shooter developed by solo developer Kimmo Lahtinen. The game features constantly evolving battlefields, roguelike upgrade systems, hard-hitting techno music, and geometric visuals inspired by classic arcade shooters. It launched November 18, 2025, on Steam.
Who is Kimmo Lahtinen?
Kimmo Lahtinen worked at Housemarque for 13 years, contributing to acclaimed games like Resogun, Nex Machina, and Returnal before leaving to pursue independent development. Sektori is his most ambitious solo project after previous smaller games like Barbarian and Day Repeat Day.
How are Sektori’s reviews?
Sektori has 97% positive reviews on Steam with over 100 reviews, plus around 90 on Metacritic. Critics and players praise its tight gameplay, visual polish, excellent music integration, and how it captures the spirit of classic twin-stick shooters while adding modern roguelike elements.
How long did Sektori take to develop?
Lahtinen spent 4.5 years working full-time on Sektori without taking any salary. The game is just now nearing the point where it covers indirect costs and overhead, but he still hasn’t been able to pay himself for those years of work.
Why hasn’t the developer been paid despite good reviews?
Even with excellent reviews and critical acclaim, Sektori needs to sell enough copies to cover 4.5 years of minimum wage salary on top of development costs. The twin-stick shooter genre has a dedicated but niche audience, making it difficult to generate the sales volume needed for financial sustainability.
What platforms is Sektori available on?
Sektori is currently available on Steam for PC and Xbox. The game is priced at $14.99 and supports Windows 10 or newer operating systems.
Is Sektori similar to other games?
Yes, Sektori draws heavy inspiration from Housemarque’s geometric shooters like Resogun and Nex Machina, as well as the classic Geometry Wars series. It combines that arcade shooter DNA with roguelike progression systems and procedural elements for replayability.
Who is Sektori’s target audience?
According to Lahtinen’s analytics, the game appeals primarily to players 25 and older who grew up with arcade shooters. Younger players under 25 show less engagement, making it what he calls a “dad’s tribute band” game targeting a specific demographic.
Does Sektori have different game modes?
Yes, beyond the main campaign mode, Sektori includes six alternate game modes like Classic, Gates, and Assault. The game offers three difficulty levels including a Revolution mode for maximum challenge, plus various challenges and medals to unlock.
Conclusion
Kimmo Lahtinen’s transparent breakdown of Sektori’s economics forces uncomfortable conversations about indie game sustainability. This isn’t a story about a failed game or a developer who made obviously poor decisions. Sektori is objectively excellent, critically acclaimed, and performing better than expected. And still, the numbers barely work. The gap between critical success and financial viability reveals how brutal the indie market has become, where even doing everything right doesn’t guarantee you can pay yourself minimum wage for years of skilled labor. For players, Sektori represents a chance to support genuinely excellent work from an experienced developer who created something special. For other developers, it’s a sobering reminder that passion and skill aren’t enough in a market saturated with options and dominated by algorithms that reward viral momentum over quality. The game’s long-term sales will determine whether Lahtinen can finally pay himself for those 4.5 years of work, and whether his next project can be sustainable from the start rather than a financially ruinous passion project. Either way, Sektori stands as both an exceptional twin-stick shooter and a case study in the challenging economics of modern independent game development.