God game Maia pulls in $1 million while in Early Access

Maia, a sci-fi colony management sim from developer Simon Roth, has pulled in more than $1 million, and it's not even fully out yet. This figure includes the £140,481 ($225,219) Maia secured on Kickstarter in 2012, plus $11,000 on Indiegogo, pre-sales on Roth's site and Steam Early Access sales, Develop reports. Maia was Greenlit on Steam in August 2013.

Roth is using the cash to set up a new development house called Machine Studios. He's hiring developers and may get to work on another, new project once everything is settled.

"The real reason I wanted Machine Studios rather than Simon Roth Incorporated is I thought it would be really narcissistic and weird, for one," Roth said. "And also, I didn't want my employees to have to put on their CV, 'I worked at Simon Roth,' when it could be Machine Studios. And so it gives them a better thing to say what they worked for."

Maia is $25 on Steam Early Access for PC, Mac and Linux, and it's currently $21.70 on the game's site (purchase includes a Steam key).

[Image: Simon Roth]