Ridiculous Fishing nears $1 million in sales, but could have been free

For a game as absurd as it is, Ridiculous Fishing has become a ridiculous success, with sales topping 300,000 according to developer Vlambeer. The game costs US$2.99 upfront, which amounts to a rather sizable payday for the indie team. Company founders Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman revealed the sales figure today during a talk at GDC Europe, Joystiq reports.

Now that the game is a bona fide App Store darling, its creators also revealed that it was almost sold through a free-to-play model, which is an increasingly popular model for iOS games. One early idea was that various boats would be sold in the game via in-app purchases, priced all the way up to $1,000, though this proposal didn't make it far.

As someone who has sunk many hours into this gem (no pun intended), I can safely say that the game would not be nearly as enjoyable with a real-cash economy. As it is, it's an absolute bargain at $3, though I couldn't possibly see shelling out cash for in-game gear, even if the game was free-to-play. In short, Vlambeer absolutely made the right decision.