Monaco earned back $100K Indie Fund investment before its official launch

Monaco: What's Yours is Mine made more than $120,000 by the time it launched on Steam, earning more than its initial investment four days before launch, developer Andy Schatz told Joystiq.

The game was initially backed for $100,000 with the help of Indie Fund, the money source behind titles such as Dear Esther and Antichamber. Pre-orders began April 17 for $13.50. According to Schatz, more funding options guarantee that studios can "customize their relationships to fit their personalities and their projects."

"For me the most significant thing about the early success with regards to Indie Fund is that it shows that there are many ways of approaching funding, from crowdfunding to investment models like Indie Fund, to personal loans," Schatz told Joystiq. "I know a number of devs that have taken loans from other devs — to the traditional publisher model."

Monaco launched April 24 for Steam. The game was set to launch on Xbox Live Arcade as well, but was delayed the day before release due to an unspecified "issue." Although the first patch has already been submitted, the game will require a second fix before it's ready to be released.