Physics sandbox ‘Garry’s Mod’ hits 20million sales landmark

More than 16 years on from its original release, popular sandbox title Garry’s Mod has hit a major milestone after selling 20million copies.

The announcement was made on Twitter, with the game’s official account breaking the news. “Thanks to everyone who’s played it over the last 16 years and counting!”, it added.

Garry’s Mod has hit 20m sales! Thanks to everyone who’s played it over the last 16 years and counting! pic.twitter.com/zxXQE3wfwM

— Garry’s Mod (@gmodofficial) September 7, 2021

Garry’s Mod was, as the name implies, began life as simply a mod for Valve’s Source game engine. Unlike many mods at the time, which added specific maps to games such as Half-Life, there was no objective or goal to Garry’s Mod – it simply allowed players to experiment with the engine’s physics and assets, leaving them to create whatever they wanted.

That freedom made it hugely popular with PC gamers, and after being released as a mod in 2004, its success earned it a standalone release in 2006. Despite its age, there are no signs of its popularity waning either – it took ten years to hit the 10million sales mark in 2016, and only another five years to double that to 20million.

Sadly for creator Garry Newman – the Garry of Garry’s Mod – the game’s success hasn’t quite trickled through to him personally, as he (jokingly?) pointed out on Twitter.

Developer Facepunch Studios is now working on a ‘spiritual successor, s&box, which is the studio’s “attempt to create a worthy Garry’s Mod sequel”. Facepunch says the upcoming game is “not going to be Garry’s Mod 2” and will “eclipse what is possible in Garry’s Mod rather than simply be a modern version of it.”

The title is in “heavy development”, and Facepunch plans to support it “over 10-20 years”.

In other modding news, Minecraft mods can give the game Pixar-level visuals – at the cost of melting computers. Elsewhere, Sony has acquired UK studio Firesprite, bringing it into the group of first-party PlayStation Studios developers.