Blood Dragon Sells Over Half a Million Copies

[Steven Bogos]

Blood Dragon Sells Over Half a Million Copies

Ubisoft's CEO said he wants to explore further downloadable brand extensions like Blood Dragon in the future.

Remember Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123105-Far-Cry-3-Blood-Dragon-Is-Neon-Soaked-80s-Action]? Of course you do. It won the heart of the internet with its over-the-top neon-soaked 80s action, making us all think fondly back on the days when Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger were kicking ass and taking names (they still do so today, but only when the retirement home lets them out). You can probably expect more Blood Dragon in the future, as Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has reported that the game sold over 500,000 copies, and has exceeded Ubisoft's expectations.

Guillemot said he was "very happy" with the game's performance, adding that it has given them the opportunity to further explore that formula of downloadable brand extensions in the future. The $15 stand-alone DLC also succeeded in spiking sales of the full Far Cry 3 release, especially on PC.

Blood Dragon was met with fairly favorable reviews, with critics praising the developers taking the familiar Far Cry 3 assets and doing something completely outlandish with them. Lead voice actor Michael Biehn previously hinted that a sequel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123753-Michael-Biehn-Dev-Already-Has-Blood-Dragon-Sequel-In-Mind] may already be in the works.

The divulsion of Blood Dragon's sales figures is also noteworthy because publishers rarely release digital sales numbers. Guillemot said he supported the Entertainment Software Association's call for greater digital sales transparency, saying it was important to release that information.

It's easy to say this when you're boasting half a million sales, but I wonder if he would feel the same way if Blood Dragon was a flop? You can purchase Blood Dragon on Steam, or on the PS3 and Xbox 360's respective digital stores for $15.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-27-xbox-one-policy-changes-get-thumbs-up-from-Ubisoft]

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[Teoes]

I wonder how much it cost them to make it..

Actually I kind of surprised it has only sold half a million. That must make it a flop, right? Right?

More games like this please. As in, more fun little expansions using a pre-existing game's assets and sold on the cheap. Not a sudden glut of 80's nostalgised[footnote]shut up, it could be a word and you know what I mean[/footnote] open world FPS games. BD was enough and the world's not big enough for another one (as in, it also doesn't need a sequel).

 

[Ruley]

I say good news! Maybe this will encourage other companies to take some risks with their IP's or long standing game engines and drive some innovation.

I appreciate making a retro style game might not be considered innovative, but i feel it was a nice way to bring forward the previous fun, run and gun sensation of the period best depicted in the movies of the time.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I hope what they take from it is that,
A) Silly games aimed at adults can sell.
and
B) Smaller buget titles are just as viable, if not more so than big AAA budget titles.

 

[9thRequiem]

I hope what they take from it is that,
A) Silly games aimed at adults can sell.
and
B) Smaller buget titles are just as viable, if not more so than big AAA budget titles.

C) if you're making an "expansion", people will love you for creativity rather than taking the easy route of adding more of the same.

 

[Longstreet]

This DLC was awesome and definitly one of the best DLC i've ever seen.

I hope we see more of this in the future.

It's funny though that they call it a success when selling half a million copies, while games that sell 5 million copies or for billions of dollars are called a flop.

 

[Steven Bogos]

This DLC was awesome and definitly one of the best DLC i've ever seen.

I hope we see more of this in the future.

It's funny though that they call it a success when selling half a million copies, while games that sell 5 million copies or for billions of dollars are called a flop.

Blood Dragon was made on a shoestring budget. It was a success because it assumedly brought in a LOT more money than they put into it. Games like Tomb Raider were a failure because they sunk so much damn cash into it. It still sold very well, but not well enough comparative to what it cost. It's the developer's own fault though, IMO

 

[Goofguy]

Glad to hear it, Blood Dragon is a great piece of DLC. It's certainly a model I'd like to see emulated in the future as opposed to just seeing more of the same.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I think he put the information out there because the industry is trying to soft sell everyone on digital distribution. In 6 months or a year when consoles start pushing digital distribution gain this will be held up as a prime example.

As for profit margins. The game made what? 7.5 million minus the minimal distribution costs for what is essentially an expanded mod. I think it's good news as Blood Dragon was a great little game that had character. It was a small risk with a decent return. It also had a lot of love put into it for a very niche idea/market. I only hope it means studios will be willing to take chances like it again in the future.

 

[shirkbot]

I'm glad to hear Blood Dragon has done so well. I really hope it opens up the door for more experimentation with both existing franchises and pricing models. I think it'll even get a little boost if there's a Steam Summer Sale this year.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Companies should make more short games like this. Think about it: they can release a small product like this to test the waters and gather up interest in a new franchise like Blood Dragon. People are always saying used games and piracy (not that I have anything against those 2 things) help drum up interest in a series and by making short, cheap games they can do the same thing and still make money off of it and get an idea about their future sales numbers

 

[Terramax]

CAREFUL UBISOFT! Don't let this get to your head. Just because one DLC sold incredibly well, doesn't give the excuse to go overboard and release dozen upon dozen of DLC, usually all of poor quality and value for money. Only release where appropriate.

 

[rapidoud]

This DLC was awesome and definitly one of the best DLC i've ever seen.

I hope we see more of this in the future.

It's funny though that they call it a success when selling half a million copies, while games that sell 5 million copies or for billions of dollars are called a flop.

Blood Dragon was made on a shoestring budget. It was a success because it assumedly brought in a LOT more money than they put into it. Games like Tomb Raider were a failure because they sunk so much damn cash into it. It still sold very well, but not well enough comparative to what it cost. It's the developer's own fault though, IMO

But then you get to the point where it's 12 hours of 99% bug-free game versus 20 hours of mostly bug-free game. You'd be surprised how many people ***** about a game 'only being 12 hours'. 12 hours is great, it's the perfect length to let you get into other games and not get bogged down with only 12 games a year.

Sadly, the community feels that games should be at least 30 hours (many people complained about Dishonored 'only being 18 hours in one playthrough') which puts an enormous strain on modern developers in creating graphics good enough that mostly people don't ***** (some people even whine about Crysis 3 for some strange reason when the resources should go into more gameplay elements) yet creating enough unique content to get the length required.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Actually I kind of surprised it has only sold half a million. That must make it a flop, right? Right?

That's what I was thinking. Half a million copies is a paltry sum, especially since it's not a physical copy, which would have limited sales if it was a small print run, but no.

 

[Callate]

I'm glad. I quite enjoyed Blood Dragon and all the snarky quips it managed to work in (loved the scientist bemoaning the lack of hot native girls with white messiah complexes.)

But my own snarky mind is wondering how other devs will manage to take the idea, run with it, and fumble it badly. ("So, we'll take the original game, cell-shade half the level assets, and get my brother-in-law Frank to write a parody of the original game. No, no, this will work, Frank's always hilarious when you get a couple of beers in him...")

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I still need to complete the main game. I lost interest after I killed Vaas. They should have had Vaas kill Hoyt and take over their business, making Vaas the final battle, or even just had you kill Hoyt before Vaas. He was a much more interesting character, the most interesting in the game in my opinion and I felt it went downhill after he was gone. I'll get back to it at some point and then try the DLC.

 

[Slash2x]

I hope what they take from it is that,
A) Silly games aimed at adults can sell.
and
B) Smaller buget titles are just as viable, if not more so than big AAA budget titles.

C) if you're making an "expansion", people will love you for creativity rather than taking the easy route of adding more of the same.

D) Expansion packs that are actually standalone products make consumers VERY happy with your company not being dicks. These happy consumers will then go and buy the original products in many cases.....




So a-d will never apply to EA............... Unless Armageddon is around the corner.

 

[thehorror2]

The thing is, most of this game was reskinning assets they'd already made. The cost for developing this particular project would be very low, so 500k copies sold is perfectly acceptable. Hell, the most important voice actor they had was Michael Biehn, and he's not very demanding.

 

[Evonisia]

I call this a positive result, I haven't bought it yet but it's existence represents a positive thing, I'm glad that it's sold well considering how obvious it is that the production was of low cost.