The studio behind the beloved indie hit Shovel Knight is facing a make-or-break moment. Yacht Club Games has put its long-dreamed 3D Shovel Knight sequel on indefinite hold, slashed its workforce to just 15 people, and admitted that if its next game Mina the Hollower doesn’t sell at least 200,000 copies, the company will be in serious trouble. After 10 years riding high on Shovel Knight’s success, the indie darling is learning the harsh reality that your company is only as strong as your last game.
The Sales Numbers They Need
In a brutally honest interview with Bloomberg published December 2, 2025, studio director Sean Velasco laid out exactly what Yacht Club needs from Mina the Hollower. Selling 500,000 copies would make them “golden.” Even 200,000 copies would be “really, really great.” But if they only move 100,000 copies, Velasco admits “that’s not so good.”
These targets might seem modest compared to Shovel Knight’s 3 million lifetime sales since 2014. However, the gaming landscape has changed dramatically in the past decade. The indie market is saturated with quality titles competing for attention. Marketing director Celia Schilling emphasized this harsh reality to Bloomberg, noting that “your company is only as strong as your last game.” Despite Shovel Knight’s legendary status among retro platformer fans, that success was over a decade ago, and the company has churned through most of its capital since then.
What Happened to 3D Shovel Knight
The 3D Shovel Knight game was a long-held dream for Yacht Club’s founders. Back in 2020, the studio announced plans to develop their own in-house engine and pursue more ambitious projects. They split their workforce into two teams – one working on the 3D Shovel Knight sequel led by Velasco and the other founders, and a second smaller team tackling Mina the Hollower, which was expected to be a quicker, less resource-intensive project.
The dual-team approach backfired spectacularly. Development on Mina the Hollower moved slower than expected, especially after COVID-19 forced operational changes in 2020. Hiring new staff during the pandemic proved difficult, and the team struggled to maintain momentum. By 2024, Yacht Club realized the two-team structure wasn’t working and made painful decisions. They laid off employees to cut costs, consolidated back into a single team, and put the 3D Shovel Knight project on hold to focus all remaining resources on finishing Mina the Hollower.
Director Alec Faulkner, who had been leading Mina’s development, left the project after reportedly having disagreements with team members. Velasco stepped in to take over as director, and according to co-founder David D’Angelo, the team basically had to redo everything. The game was originally scheduled to launch October 31, 2024, but was delayed indefinitely just weeks before release. Only recently did the game reach a state where it’s playable from start to finish, and that playthrough revealed numerous issues that still need fixing.
The Mina the Hollower Gamble
Mina the Hollower is a top-down action-adventure game inspired by Game Boy Color classics like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Players control Mina, a skilled inventor and Hollower who uses whip-based combat and unique burrowing abilities to explore Tenebrous Isle. The game features 8-bit visuals refined with modern touches like detailed animation, widescreen presentation, 60fps gameplay, and responsive controls that honor retro aesthetics while meeting contemporary standards.
The problem is that Mina represents a risky pivot from what made Yacht Club successful. Shovel Knight appealed to a massive audience nostalgic for NES-era platformers like Mega Man and Castlevania – mainstream classics that defined gaming for an entire generation. Mina draws inspiration from handheld adventure games, which occupy a smaller niche. Committing the company’s entire future to this project instead of making a straightforward Shovel Knight 2 seems incredibly risky, especially when marketing hasn’t generated significant online buzz.
Multiple Reddit users commenting on the Bloomberg article expressed concern that they hadn’t even heard of Mina the Hollower despite being Shovel Knight fans. One commenter noted confusion around Cyber Shadow, which Yacht Club published but didn’t develop, with many people assuming it was their next game. This marketing failure means Yacht Club’s first genuine new release since 2014 is flying under the radar for the exact audience that should be most excited about it.
How They Got Here
Shovel Knight launched in 2014 as a Kickstarter success story and became one of the defining indie games of that era. The character achieved mainstream recognition with an official Nintendo Amiibo, an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an assist trophy, and cameos in games ranging from Bloodstained to For Honor. Yacht Club seemed positioned for long-term success.
Instead of quickly following up with Shovel Knight 2, Yacht Club spent years creating expansions and spin-offs. Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards added new playable characters and campaigns to the original game. Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon launched in 2021 as a puzzle-game hybrid. Shovel Knight Dig arrived in 2022, developed in collaboration with Nitrome. These projects kept the brand alive but generated only moderate success compared to the original.
The studio also moved to a new Los Angeles office and hired more employees, increasing overhead at exactly the wrong time. When COVID hit, remote work challenges combined with the complexity of managing two separate game teams created a perfect storm. By the time Yacht Club recognized these problems in 2024, they’d already burned through most of their capital with little to show for it besides an indefinitely delayed game and a frozen sequel project.
The Path Forward
Yacht Club is taking steps to ensure survival even if Mina underperforms. The studio is transitioning to fully remote work by the end of 2025, eliminating expensive office space costs. They’ve committed to focusing on one project at a time instead of splitting resources. Co-founder Nick Wozniak told Bloomberg their future strategy involves releasing a game every couple of years rather than every five or six years, acknowledging they haven’t launched a genuinely new title in far too long.
If Mina fails to hit sales targets, Yacht Club will urgently need outside financial support – either from a publisher, investor, or potentially a larger studio acquisition. Velasco indicated failure wouldn’t immediately spell the end for Yacht Club, but the company would be in desperate straits. The 3D Shovel Knight sequel could potentially resume development with proper funding, but only if they stabilize first.
Success with Mina would solve everything. Hitting 200,000 to 500,000 copies would provide capital to finish the 3D sequel, expand the team back to sustainable size, and establish a healthier development pipeline. The game’s quality isn’t in question – everyone who’s played it praises the tight controls, charming visuals, and clever level design. The challenge is getting enough people to know it exists and convincing them to buy it.
What This Means for Indie Development
Yacht Club’s situation illustrates a harsh reality for indie studios. One massive hit doesn’t guarantee long-term stability. The industry has changed dramatically since 2014, with thousands of quality indie games launching every year on Steam alone. Standing out requires not just great game design but also effective marketing, smart resource management, and realistic timelines.
The decision to split into two teams while taking on a 3D sequel and a completely new IP simultaneously was ambitious but ultimately unsustainable for a studio of their size. Many successful indie studios maintain small team sizes and focus on one project at a time precisely to avoid this scenario. Companies like Supergiant Games (Hades) and Team Cherry (Hollow Knight) built their reputations on delivering polished experiences at sustainable paces.
Yacht Club’s transparency about their struggles is admirable and important for the industry to witness. Too many studios silently shut down after failing to recapture initial success. By openly discussing sales targets and financial pressures, Yacht Club provides valuable insights into the economic realities facing even beloved indie developers.
FAQs
Is Yacht Club Games shutting down?
Not yet, but they’re in serious financial trouble. Studio director Sean Velasco told Bloomberg in December 2025 that if their next game Mina the Hollower only sells 100,000 copies, that would be very bad for the company. They need at least 200,000 sales to stabilize.
What happened to the 3D Shovel Knight game?
The 3D Shovel Knight sequel has been put on indefinite hold. Yacht Club was working on it from 2020-2024 with a dedicated team, but after financial struggles and development problems with Mina the Hollower, they consolidated into one team and froze the Shovel Knight project to focus all resources on finishing Mina.
When will Mina the Hollower release?
No release date has been announced. The game was delayed indefinitely just weeks before its planned October 31, 2024 launch. According to Bloomberg, it only recently reached a playable start-to-finish state, and that playthrough revealed numerous issues still requiring fixes.
What kind of game is Mina the Hollower?
Mina the Hollower is a top-down action-adventure game inspired by Game Boy Color classics. Players control Mina, an inventor who uses whip combat and burrowing abilities to explore Tenebrous Isle. It features 8-bit visuals with modern refinements like 60fps gameplay, widescreen presentation, and responsive controls.
How many people work at Yacht Club Games now?
The studio has downsized to approximately 15 employees after layoffs in 2024. At their peak around 2020, they had split into two development teams and hired additional staff before COVID-19 and financial problems forced cuts.
Did Yacht Club Games make Cyber Shadow?
No. Yacht Club only published Cyber Shadow. It was developed by Finnish indie studio Mechanical Head Studios. This confusion reportedly hurt Yacht Club because many fans assumed Cyber Shadow was their next game after Shovel Knight, when actually Mina the Hollower is their first genuine new release since 2014.
Why didn’t Yacht Club just make Shovel Knight 2?
They were working on both a 3D Shovel Knight sequel and Mina the Hollower simultaneously. The 3D game was a long-held dream for the founders, while Mina was supposed to be a smaller, quicker project. Both plans backfired when development took longer than expected and costs spiraled out of control.
How many copies did Shovel Knight sell?
Shovel Knight has sold over 3 million copies since launching in 2014. The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, spawned numerous expansions and spin-offs, and became one of the most recognizable indie characters of the 2010s with appearances in Smash Bros and an official Nintendo Amiibo.
Will the 3D Shovel Knight game ever release?
Yacht Club still hopes to release it eventually, but only if they stabilize financially first. The project is completely on hold while all resources focus on finishing and launching Mina the Hollower. If Mina succeeds, they could resume 3D Shovel Knight development with proper funding.
Conclusion
Yacht Club Games stands at a crossroads that will define whether they become a one-hit-wonder or prove they can succeed beyond Shovel Knight. The decision to put their 3D sequel on hold and bet everything on Mina the Hollower is either brave or reckless depending on how sales perform. For fans who grew up with Shovel Knight, this is a reminder that even beloved indie studios face brutal economic realities. Success requires more than just making great games – it demands smart business decisions, effective marketing, and sometimes a bit of luck. Mina the Hollower needs to hit stores soon and generate enough buzz to reach those critical 200,000 sales. Otherwise, the studio that gave us one of indie gaming’s most iconic characters might not survive to see Shovel Knight’s 15th anniversary.