Mina the Hollower, Yacht Club Games' First New IP Since Shovel Knight, Tops 500,000 Copies After a 'Make-or-Break' Launch
Yacht Club Games says its Game Boy-styled action game Mina the Hollower has sold over 500,000 copies in two weeks, clearing a launch the studio had called make-or-break.
Overview
Mina the Hollower, the first new original property from Shovel Knight studio Yacht Club Games, has sold more than 500,000 copies within two weeks of release, the studio confirmed. The action-adventure game was developed and published by Yacht Club Games and released on Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on May 29, 2026, according to Wikipedia. The figure clears a commercial bar that studio leadership had publicly described as existential for the company.
What We Know
Mina the Hollower sold over 300,000 copies across all platforms in its first three days and surpassed 500,000 copies within two weeks of launching, Wikipedia reports. Marking the half-million milestone, Yacht Club Games said: “Half a million Hollowers have descended into Tenebrous Isle, and we’re completely blown away. Thank you for playing, sharing, reviewing, streaming, and believing in our haughty little mouse,” as quoted by Nintendo Life.
The milestone carried unusual weight for the studio. Ahead of release, Yacht Club had framed Mina the Hollower as a pivotal release. “It’s make-or-break for sure,” co-founder and studio director Sean Velasco told Bloomberg, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. According to the same report, the studio had churned through most of its capital and put a second project — a 3D Shovel Knight sequel — on hold to concentrate resources on Mina. Velasco added that “If Mina flops, we’ll still be around,” while conceding the studio “would need more money,” per Video Games Chronicle.
The game also met a personal benchmark set by Velasco, who had previously called 500,000 sales “golden” and has since set an ambitious goal of one million copies, Nintendo Life reports. The same outlet notes that the strong sales mean the team will not need to make cuts or seek outside investment.
Yacht Club Games was founded in 2011 by former WayForward Technologies director Sean Velasco, and released Shovel Knight on June 26, 2014, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, according to Wikipedia. Shovel Knight has sold more than 3 million copies since its release in 2014, Video Games Chronicle reports. The company announced Mina the Hollower, its second original title, in February 2022, per Wikipedia; a Kickstarter campaign that month raised $1,239,584 from 21,439 backers, according to Wikipedia.
The sales surge has been accompanied by strong reviews. On Metacritic, the game holds Metascores of 91 on PC and PlayStation 5 and 90 on Nintendo Switch 2, each labeled “Universal Acclaim,” according to Metacritic. At one point the PC version’s critic score placed it ahead of Forza Horizon 6 as the year’s highest-rated game on the aggregator, Nintendo Life reported.
The Game
Mina the Hollower draws its influences from Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and Bloodborne, Wikipedia notes. The title leans into a deliberately retro presentation, limiting pixel design to four colors per tile to evoke Game Boy Color-era hardware, per Wikipedia. Its central traversal mechanic, “Hollowing,” lets the player burrow underground for a short time to cross gaps quickly while remaining invincible.
The soundtrack is composed by Jake Kaufman, with guest tracks contributed by Yuzo Koshiro, according to Wikipedia. In its review, Nintendo Life scored the Switch 2 edition 9/10, describing the game as “Blending the exploratory charm of The Legend of Zelda with the European gothic setting of Castlevania,” and praising its “Gorgeous Game Boy Color-inspired visuals.” Reviewing the game, Kotaku wrote: “I don’t really have any asterisks to put on my love for Mina the Hollower: it’s fun, it’s full, it’s mysterious, nice to look at, and very nice to listen to,” as published by Kotaku.
What We Don’t Know
Yacht Club has not disclosed a platform-by-platform sales breakdown, nor whether the paused 3D Shovel Knight project will now resume. Velasco’s stated one-million-copy goal remains a target rather than a reported figure, and the studio has not published updated sales numbers beyond the 500,000 milestone.