Graveyard Keeper’s critical reception back in 2018 wasn’t the greatest, yet it’s a perfect example of a game that’s endured by doubling down on its quirks and more unique aspects, enchanting a dedicated community over time. Last week, a giveaway was announced to boost interest in its upcoming sequel.

And that giveaway seemed to have a very unexpected side-effect. The free giveaway is now over, and tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik took to X to explain gifting the first game to players across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation actually made the publisher around $250K from DLC sales alone. And that’s just the PC numbers. “Haven’t gotten the console numbers yet,” he noted.

Nichiporchik stated such a move is smart “when you have a lot of DLC”, and I guess it’s a sensible play when your game is nearly eight years old, too. With marketing efforts around the sequel now ramping up, this promotion has also helped the second sort-of cosy game in the series reach 400K wishlists during the giveaway period alone. That data is limited to the Steam version of the game and isn’t a total which includes tracking on consoles.

Graveyard Keeper has three different DLCs: Stranger Sins, Game of Crone, and Better Save Soul, released in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively. Plus, the artbook and original OST can be purchased digitally as well. At the time of writing, a Steam sale of all the content is ongoing.

Eurogamer’s review of Graveyard Keeper called the off-beat management sim “fascinating”, but also noted “arcane busywork leaves little room for genuine pleasure”. Lazy Bear Games promises a deeper and “more unhinged” follow-up with Graveyard Keeper 2, but let’s hope quality-of-life changes are a priority too.