Dark Souls has become a ridiculously popular franchise. It’s tough-as nails series of games that, though modern, harken back to old games like Mega Man, which told you nothing and expected players to figure things out. You wouldn’t expect it to be as popular as it is, given that modern game design seems to dictate that games need to be about accessibility and holding hands, and the word “niche” is often casually bandied about the series. It needs to not be.
Dark Souls, as a series, has now sold over 8 million copies across all platforms, according to developer FROM software and publisher Bandai Namco (via NeoGAF). It includes console and PC versions of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, including re-releases that had extra content like Artorias of the Abyss and Scholar of the First Sin. It doesn’t however, include things like the related Demons Souls and PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne.
That’s millions of people who’ve had a similar number of deaths each, which isn’t exactly what I’d call niche.
Interestingly, it seems that a great many of those sales are for the PC versions of the game; somewhere in the region of 3.25 million copies. If you’ll recall, the first game was bound to consoles when first released, and it took an internet petition and much gnashing of teeth to bring the game to PC. And naturally, they botched it releasing a piss-poor port that took months and user mods to fix. It was also encumbered with Games for Windows Live.
Unfortunately, the same sort of thing happened with Dark Souls 2, which took extra time to hit PC, and was broken when it did. There are even suggestions that Dark Souls 3, announced at E3 this year, might skip PCs. Given that nearly half of all copies sold have been on that platform despite being broken, make me thing it would a stupid thing to do. Here’s that reveal trailer, in case you missed it.
Last Updated: June 30, 2015
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 30, 2015 at 14:06
Wonder how many of those 3.25 million copies would still be seen as sales if refunds had been around then, because it was terrible at launch & I probably would’ve applied for a refund.
Admiral Chief's Adventure
June 30, 2015 at 14:13
Ditto
COCKLOVER
July 1, 2015 at 01:02
Faggot.
Steffmeister
June 30, 2015 at 15:53
Bought it because of hype and good reviews. Hated it. Traded it.
Celest1alBe1ng
July 1, 2015 at 00:52
Git Gud Noob
COCKLOVER
July 1, 2015 at 00:54
Yeah, well you’re a faggot.
COCKLOVER
July 1, 2015 at 00:55
What the fuck? Do you even follow Souls? Dark Souls III is very well being released on PC, you faggot-ass journalist.
Steffmeister
July 1, 2015 at 08:54
Dude relax