[Erax]

From a Shrapnel press release dated October 31, 2002 :

Shrapnel Games announced today that the Space Empires IV Gold has surpassed the one half million dollar mark in internet sales. [snip]

Timothy W. Brooks, President of Shrapnel Games, said, "This is truly a momentous occasion and proves that our business model works. A PC game from one of the large publishers, available through retail stores, would be considered a success at one half million dollars in sales. The Space Empires IV franchise from Malfador Machinations achieved this almost exclusively through Online sales. The truly exciting aspect of this is that Space Empires IV Gold is still selling at record rates. Our next announcement will be when we surpass the one million dollar mark, which we believe we can do within 18 months."

Richard Arnesen, Director of Covert Operations for Shrapnel Games, said, "Space Empires IV Gold is a special game with a thriving and active community. It is because of this community that we have achieved these sales numbers."

So... pick a number between $500K and $1M. Divide by $40 to get number of copies sold.

Aaron achieving financial independence is a good thing, not a bad thing. He will probably continue to make games because I suspect he enjoys it.