Ninja theory’s Hellblade is a very good game. While I don’t personally think its attempt at tackling the spectre of mental illness through videogames was as successful as many of its fans believe, it’s a genuinely great action game regardless. That it even tried to deal with such a serious topic with the respect it did is laudable.
It’s a hit too. The game has now sold half a million copies, says developer Ninja Theory. What makes the game interesting from an industry standpoint is that it was priced at a mid-point level, delivering a single-player experience comparable to many AAA games, at a $30 price. Importantly, it didn’t cost what most AAA games cost to make, proving that there’s an untapped market between cheaper games and full-priced AAA ones.
Says Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades, in a statement:
“The escalating stakes in the AAA retail publishing model has killed off countless independent studios like us, many smaller publishers, and is now straining even the largest of publishers. This isn’t survival of the fittest but a routing of the creative base upon which this industry was built.
The future isn’t written and we don’t believe that the writing is on the wall. AAA will always exist but we need strong alternatives as well.
Three years ago we announced our intention to find a way to do our best work outside of the AAA retail model and have openly documented the journey in our thirty development diaries.
The final step is to share our commercial model and digital sales data for the benefit of other developers. The more data we have for alternative business models, the more developers can take informed commercial and creative risks. For the benefit of our beloved medium, we’d like to encourage other developers to share their own data as well wherever possible.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us and made Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice a commercial and creative success.”
In the release, there are a few handy-dandy takeaway points:
- Over 75K pre-orders across PC and PS4 before launch.
- 250K units sold in the first week at $29.99.
- Over $13m in revenue generated in 3 months.
- 500k units sold in 3 months, which puts the project beyond breakeven and into profit. Our prediction was to be at this point in 6 months from release.
- Development took 3 years and with an average team size of 20.
- Game sold as digital-only.
- About half the sales were on PC.
Last Updated: November 22, 2017
Aries
November 22, 2017 at 18:06
Going to buy this soon
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 22, 2017 at 18:33
It’s also *gasp* only 6/7 hours long, depending on how fast you go.
RinceThis
November 22, 2017 at 23:48
Lies, I’ve been playing it for weeks!
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2017 at 08:13
Because you have the attention span of a guppy!
RinceThis
November 23, 2017 at 10:21
Throw the ball!
Guz
November 23, 2017 at 09:08
Did you finish it already, if so what would you give it as a rating out of ten? Is it worth the buy or should i wait till it goes on sale ?
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2017 at 09:38
I’d give it a 9/10 & highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys story-based games.
It takes a little while to get going & the puzzles were a bit iffy at times, but the combat was fun and the story is absolutely amazing – easily one of the best I’ve ever experienced.
And if you’re on PC it’s on special on Steam right now, and even if not, it’s worth every penny.
Guz
November 23, 2017 at 10:28
Thanks, will have to look how the wallet looks after Black Friday sales but looks like Ive got another on my to play list
RinceThis
November 23, 2017 at 10:24
@disqus_DoEH3TsffU:disqus It’s really worth it. 3/4 of the way through myself. It’s, intense. Not a standard pick up and go. trev has no soul and was able to play for 4 hours straight, the whispers just joined the ranks of all the others he already has going on, ha!
Guz
November 23, 2017 at 10:30
Thanks, so i shouldn’t play it alone at 11 o’clock at night with the lights off and headphones on, got it 😉
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2017 at 10:54
I went out & bought a new set of headphones specifically for this game when I was half way through it. You constantly having voices talking to you, and the difference hearing them between headphones & speakers is night & day.
Original Heretic
November 23, 2017 at 11:30
The most amazing thing about reading this was that you went out.
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2017 at 12:14
Of course I went out. I’m not letting the delivery man inside my house.
Magu
November 23, 2017 at 06:46
Shit I totally forgot about this! Thanks for the reminder, I’m excited now!