News
‘Hellblade’ Breaks Even, Final Dev Diary Released
As great of a game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice turned out to be, it was undeniably a gamble for developer Ninja Theory to release what they called an “independent AAA game”. Thankfully, the gamble has paid off.
In the final Developer Diary released by Ninja Theory for Hellblade, the team reveal that in the three months since the game was launched, they reached 500,000 in sales (three months ahead of their predictions), and put Ninja Theory in the black with over $13 million in revenue. Breaking that down further, 250,000 units were sold in the first week at $29.99 USD, with over 75,000 units in pre-orders across PlayStation 4 and PC. Overall, about half of the sales were on PC.
This all comes from a team of 20, working over three years to develop a game that was sold only digitally.
So, what does this all mean? Well, it proves that in a world where bloated budgets and corporate meddling of a big-time developer can cause a game that’s well-received to be hopelessly behind the 8-ball in trying to break even, or an game made by a small team which receives ridiculous hype but unfortunately fails upon its release, there’s a happy medium. Is it for every game? No, but it’s a feel-good story for a game that definitely deserves your attention.
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
You must be logged in to post a comment.