It always pays to stand out from the crowd and another person who is living proof of this fact is American video game developer and music composer, Toby Fox who as of 2020 has a net worth of $3 million. While most video games out there glory in bloodshed, violence, and fight-to-the-death scenarios, Fox’s first video game, Undertale, struck a more conciliatory tone and encouraged players to dialogue their way out of problems.
Such a pacifist scenario proved to be quite popular with many video game enthusiasts and as such, Fox’s creation went on to become one of the most heralded video games of the year 2015. It is five years down the line and Undertale continues to maintain relevance with a sequel set to be launched in the future. It has also inspired other similar games thus kick-starting its own subgenre. All these have predictably led to significant income for Fox and he now has a net worth put at $3 million.
Sources That Have Contributed to Toby Fox’s Net Worth
He Has Made about $29 Million from the Sale of Undertale
Some video games take some time to catch on in the market but not Undertale. The game was one of the bestselling video games in the year it was released (2015), totaling about half a million sales on Steam alone. The figure increased by another one million in 2016 and by July 2018, it had sold about three and a half million copies. Giving this progression, it is reasonable to presume that Undertale has sold about four million physical copies on Steam to date. Each copy goes for about $10 meaning that the game would have grossed about $40 million. Per industry standards, Steam would retain 30% of this amount ($12,000,000) while the remainder, $28,000,000, will go to Toby Fox. Asides from sales on Steam, Undertale has also sold about 100,000 copies on PS4 and Vita. The average price for each is $25.00 meaning that gross revenue from sales is at least $2.5 million. 30% of this will go to Sony while the remainder, $1.75 million, will accrue towards Toby Fox’s net worth.
UNDERTALE! Alphys stars in one of my favorite shirts we’ve ever done. The Temmie plush stars… in a box! https://t.co/BEmQpstv6a pic.twitter.com/eOE2dD8qMS
— Fangamer (@Fangamer) November 21, 2017
Undertale has a Hugely Popular and Lucrative Merch Line
The massive popularity enjoyed by Undertale means that its fans are also eager to snap up any branded merchandise associated with the game. This has worked in Toby Fox’s favor as he also makes a lot of money from the sale of merch. The Undertale merch line features toy figurines and plush toys based on characters from the game. There are also other items such as stickers, posters, mugs, T-shirts, and even face masks. Prices for these items start from $1.25 to as much as $21.78. It is difficult to estimate how much income the merch line has generated but it should be substantial given that fans have to pre-order before they can get their hands on them.
Toby Fox has Composed Tracks for Video Games such as Pokémon Sword and Shield For a Fee
Not many video game developers can also boast of having music composition skills but Toby Fox does and this has benefitted his net worth. The Northeastern alum first started composing music as a high school senior in 2009, supplying several tracks for the web-based comic known as Homestuck. He continued in that direction and went on to produce several of the tracks for his own game, Undertale. Undertale would eventually become a global phenomenon but this has not made Fox stop exploring his passion for music. He has composed music for other video games such as Hiveswap, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Little Town Hero, Escaped Chasm, Pokémon Sword, and Shield. His fees for these projects are not known but it should be substantial given that music composers for video games earn anything from $30,000 to $75,000.
Hey, I'm finally allowed to announce this: I was asked to compose a track for Pokémon Sword & Shield! It's a huge honor to be asked to be part of something like this. I hope you enjoy hearing it when the game comes out! pic.twitter.com/VmroEgJWqI
— tobyfox (@tobyfox) November 1, 2019
The Undertale Creator has also Earned as a Budding Video Director
Toby Fox is one young fellow who never tires of trying his hands at new things and his latest adventure is directing videos. In July 2020, the Undertale creator took to his Twitter page to announce that he had directed one of the music videos for the album of his good pal, Chip Tanaka. The album was titled Domingo and Fox directed the video for a track known as Hammerhead. The video was shot in black and white and looks like a 16-bit era game. It was shot using the game creation tool known as GameMaker. Fox may not have made much money from this venture, given that Tanaka is a good pal of his, but it will give him the experience for other future directorial jobs which will bring him a lot of income.
Sources of Toby Fox’s Net Worth
- Undertale sales – $29.7 million
- Merch Line – N/A
- Music composition – N/A
- Video direction – N/A
Toby Fox Potentially Stands To Make Millions of Dollars from the Undertale Sequel – Deltarune
Toby Fox’s net worth is presently at $3 million but it could grow in the near future as he is set to release the sequel to the hugely-successful Undertale any moment soon. Known as Deltarune, it is also an RPG in which players embark on a quest to save the world and encounter several enemies in the process. They then have the choice of resolving the conflicts with these enemies either peacefully or through combat.
Deltarune has been in the works for a very long time but is yet to see the light of day. This is due to the fact that Fox is determined to make the whole game alone as was the case with Undertale. He is however finding it hard to pull off this feat as the game is more complex than its predecessor and features a more complicated battle system, overworld as well as multiple characters. All this has made Fox concede that he might not be able to fly solo this time around and so he decided to put together a team to help him bring the project to fruition. The news was welcomed by fans who can’t wait to get their hands on the new game.
Chronicling Toby Fox’s Journey from Indie Game Developer to Creator of One of the Best Games Ever.
Toby Fox owes his fame and fortune to Undertale and the story of its development dates as far back as 2011 when he started scripting the story for the game as well as the artwork. He drew inspiration from other games such as Mario & Luigi, Super Mario RG as well as a Japanese game known as Shin Megami Tensei. Shin Megami Tensei in particular served as the inspiration for Undertale’s game system whereby you try to dialogue with the monsters rather than killing them. With the exception of some artwork that was done by an assistant named Temmie Chang, Toby Fox single-handedly developed all other aspects of Undertale such as the music and script.
He subsequently embarked on a fundraising drive on Kickstarter and was able to raise about $50,000. He used this to independently release the game on Game Faq and all his hard work was rewarded as his game went on to become a big hit. Buoyed by its quirky cast of characters as well as its endearing storyline, rescuing a child from the underworld by dialoguing with monsters, Undertale sold millions of copies in a short time and received glowing reviews from critics. It also went on to win several awards including the best story at the 2015 IGN Awards, audience award at the 2016 Independent Games Festival, most fulfilling crowdfunded game at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards, and original role-playing game at the 2016 NAVGTR Awards.
