Mewgenics Hits 1 Million Copies and $23 Million in Its First Week

When we covered the Mewgenics launch two weeks ago, the game had sold 152,000 copies in three hours. That was just the beginning.

Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel’s cat breeding tactical roguelite crossed one million copies sold in its first seven days on Steam. Revenue estimates from analyst Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics put the first week gross at roughly $23 to $25 million. The game peaked at 115,428 concurrent players, surpassing Hades 2’s all time Steam record for the roguelike genre.

McMillen posted on X: “We both got a bit blindsided by this.”

The Numbers

The sales trajectory was relentless.

• 3 hours: Development costs fully recouped
• 12 hours: 250,000 copies sold
• 36 hours: 500,000 copies sold
• 7 days: 1,000,000+ copies sold

For context, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth sold roughly 40,000 copies on its first day. Mewgenics sold six times that in half the time. According to Rogueliker, the first week performance was approximately 25 times higher than Rebirth’s first week, making it the most successful launch of McMillen’s career by a wide margin.

The game currently sits at an 89 on Metacritic with a “Must Play” badge on OpenCritic. Steam reviews are Overwhelmingly Positive. If you want to know whether it lives up to the hype, read our full Mewgenics review.

The Voice Cameo Controversy

Then the credits screen happened.

Mewgenics features over 180 voice cameos where internet personalities, content creators, and public figures recorded cat meows that are randomly assigned to cats in the game. The cast ranges from streamers and game developers to deeply polarizing public figures.

Two names drew the most attention. Ethan and Hila Klein (h3h3Productions), who have been vocal about the Israel conflict and are publicly feuding with other creators on the list. And Christine Chandler (Chris Chan), who was arrested in 2021 on incest charges. The case was dismissed in 2023 following a deferred disposition. Chandler voices a cat version of Sonichu, their original webcomic character.

McMillen addressed the backlash directly.

“The inclusion of people with clashing ideologies felt appropriate,” he wrote. He noted that he contacted both the Kleins and iDubbbz (who publicly supports Palestine and had feuded with the Kleins) to ensure both parties were comfortable with each other’s participation. He said they “were both very adult about it.”

On only including people who share his views: “If I only included people who share the same exact opinions as me, I’d be the only one meowing in the game.”

His sharpest response: “If a cat appears with the voice of someone you hate… you can literally throw it in the trash… or worse. People need to get more creative with their hate!”

McMillen also made a now deleted post on X defending the inclusion of Chris Chan, questioning the severity of the charges. That post drew additional backlash and was removed.

What It Means

The controversy has not slowed sales. If anything, the discourse may have amplified awareness of the game during its critical second week.

What matters for the indie space is simpler. Two people made this game. It took eight years of active development (fourteen years from the original 2012 announcement). It has over 1,000 unique abilities, 900+ items, and 500+ hours of content to 100% complete. It launched at $29.99 with no publisher backing, no venture capital, and no live service model. It made $23 million in a week.

Console ports are confirmed for 2026. McMillen has said Switch 2 is “the front runner,” with PS5 and Xbox also planned. DLC is coming, but the team wants to spend a few months understanding what players enjoy most before starting on it.

For developers debating whether a deep, content heavy roguelite can still break through in a crowded market: yes. If you want to learn more about the design philosophy behind it, our Edmund McMillen design lessons piece digs into the principles that shaped both Mewgenics and The Binding of Isaac.

Mewgenics is available now on Steam for $29.99. It is the best roguelite we have played this year.