Blood Dragon Sells a Million Copies, Expect More Like it

[Steven Bogos]

Blood Dragon Sells a Million Copies, Expect More Like it

Ubisoft wants to make more digital-only "mini triple A" titles.

couldn't get enough of Blood Dragon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123105-Far-Cry-3-Blood-Dragon-Is-Neon-Soaked-80s-Action] and it looks like a lot of other people couldn't too, as Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has announced it has sold over a million copies since its launch back in April.

Guillemot says to expect more "mini triple A" titles like Blood Dragon and Call of Juarez: Gunslingers in the future. He explains that the prevalence of digital downloads means it is easier for devs to sell games that may be smaller in size but bigger in innovation. "You will see more and more of those [titles like Blood Dragon] in the future."

He also hinted at a possible retail release for Blood Dragon, which may bring even more sales to the game. Not bad for a game that people were sure was an April Fool's joke when it was announced.

In the full interview, Guillemot talks about current and future Ubisoft titles, as well as the company's own UBR Engine that powers games like Rayman Legends. Guillemot is very interested in licencing out its engine for other developers to use, but is first making sure the company can take care of maintenance and documentation.

He also confirmed that a "free-to-play" version of Ubisoft's upcoming MMO-style shooter The Division is completely "off the table."

Source: GameInformer [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/09/06/video-interview-ubisofts-yves-guillemot-talks-console-transition-free-to-play-and-game-prices.aspx]

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[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Good. We need more of this.

Game budgets and consequently, prices, are only inflating more and more.

With titles like Blood Dragon, studios can spend less money, take more chances and put out the content quicker at lower prices.

Though it could easily be abused, it seems like a good step.

 

[Triality]

Good on you Ubisoft. As much as their DRM policies are ass backwards this sort of news gives me hope for the future. The game market needs more tiers in game pricing and Blood Dragon is a leader in what could be an excellent trend. This 60 dollars no matter what market is bullshit. Good graphics aren't the point any longer, just good ART (GASP!), and this game proves that inside and out!

Wake up Microsoft! EA!Activision! Ubisoft (Hey, you're no more exempt)!

 

[-Dragmire-]

If the assets from one game are reworked to make 2-3 unique game releases, the gigantic out of control budgets might remain viable for a bit longer... go figure.

 

[piinyouri]

Even though I did not personally like Blood Dragon, this is certainly a direction I approve of going.
If for lack of anything else just a nice change of pace.

I know people are going to ask and the reason is the color scheme/design of the game literally makes my eyes hurt and gives me a headache. That is not hyperbole for me just not liking the game (I'm sure mechanically it was a great game, as I love FC3) the contrasting darkness bright neon lights literally gave me headaches and put me in agony.

 

[antigodoflife]

Even though I did not personally like Blood Dragon, this is certainly a direction I approve of going.
If for lack of anything else just a nice change of pace.

I know people are going to ask and the reason is the color scheme/design of the game literally makes my eyes hurt and gives me a headache. That is not hyperbole for me just not liking the game (I'm sure mechanically it was a great game, as I love FC3) the contrasting darkness bright neon lights literally gave me headaches and put me in agony.

Hey man, no one is going to hate you for not liking a game because it gave you literal migraines and if they do they're in the wrong not you. I was the same when playing the first Super Mario Galaxy, the camera was unrefined and did some damn strange things and along with headaches it gave me nausea, I understand where you're coming from.

As for Blood Dragon, it was a great game until one of the last missions where you had to take on waves of zombies for no reason.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

Digital only? It was on store shelves in Australia, wonder why it didn't get a retail release in the States?

 

[Dr.Awkward]

If the assets from one game are reworked to make 2-3 unique game releases, the gigantic out of control budgets might remain viable for a bit longer... go figure.

Except, well... Have you seen how much the Assassin's Creed 2 sequels use assets from the earlier games? I'm for it, but damnit, if I've got most of the assets used for it already, then offer me a discount for the game that reuses those assets. GSC (creators of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series) did this with Call of Pripyat with the "Loyalty Purchase", which was a discount to owners of previous games, and it did use several of the assets from Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky. Do something like that and you'll see what real loyalty is, Ubisoft.

 

[Metalrocks]

funny, digital only??? then how come i see retail versions all over in stores??
sure, the game was ok but it dint make want to play it second time or complete it to a 100%. i dint even like FC3, which i deleted already.
but lets see with what other small titles they will come up with.

 

[piinyouri]

Even though I did not personally like Blood Dragon, this is certainly a direction I approve of going.
If for lack of anything else just a nice change of pace.

I know people are going to ask and the reason is the color scheme/design of the game literally makes my eyes hurt and gives me a headache. That is not hyperbole for me just not liking the game (I'm sure mechanically it was a great game, as I love FC3) the contrasting darkness bright neon lights literally gave me headaches and put me in agony.

Hey man, no one is going to hate you for not liking a game because it gave you literal migraines and if they do they're in the wrong not you. I was the same when playing the first Super Mario Galaxy, the camera was unrefined and did some damn strange things and along with headaches it gave me nausea, I understand where you're coming from.

As for Blood Dragon, it was a great game until one of the last missions where you had to take on waves of zombies for no reason.

Haha you wouldn;t think, but I've seen folks get umped for similar things here.

Anyway yeah it's like when folks say they get physically ill when they see something that uses shaky-cam. That doesn't happen to me but who am I to say what someone does and doesn't find nauseating?

 

[Steven Bogos]

funny, digital only??? then how come i see retail versions all over in stores??
sure, the game was ok but it dint make want to play it second time or complete it to a 100%. i dint even like FC3, which i deleted already.
but lets see with what other small titles they will come up with.

AFAIK - the copies selling at retail ATM are just codes which let you download a digital version. There's no disk based version

 

[Stevepinto3]

Woah woah woah, you mean that if we make moderately budgeted games that know their target audience they can actually turn a profit? Who would have ever imagined that there was an alternative to giant, costly AAA franchises pushed out on a yearly basis?

It's not like hundreds of small, independent developers have had success with this over the last 5 or 6 years.

Snide comments aside I'm really glad to hear this. So many major publishers seem to think the only option for any given game is to set out to be the biggest game out there, and this inevitably fails. There needs to be a break from the $60 pricing model, and not just for the sake of players. Glad Ubisoft learned an appropriate lesson here.

So that being said...can we freaking talk Beyond Good and Evil 2 now?!?

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I've been hoping for a retail release of Blood Dragon. I almost picked it up a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale, but I couldn't justify using that big chunk of hard drive space. My 250 gb is more than half full and I'm still holding out on a half dozen other smaller games to get a bit cheaper.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

Only a million sales? Well, I guess it's considered a failure and we'll never get... Wait a minute, they consider it a success?!?!? Is the game industry learning?

 

[Metalrocks]

AFAIK - the copies selling at retail ATM are just codes which let you download a digital version. There's no disk based version

no, its a disc inside. i know because i asked and the shop showed it to me.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Only a million sales? Well, I guess it's considered a failure and we'll never get... Wait a minute, they consider it a success?!?!? Is the game industry learning?

As far as I know, Ubisoft hasn't had the same insane, inflated sales expectations that EA or Square Enix has had. Just because EA expected Dead Space 3 to sell as much as both previous titles combined or Squenix hoped that Tomb Raider would rival CoD in sales doesn't mean that all major publishers expect the same.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

For $15 it's practically a steal. I want more. I want a love child of Call of Juarez and Far Cry as well.

 

[Steven Bogos]

AFAIK - the copies selling at retail ATM are just codes which let you download a digital version. There's no disk based version

no, its a disc inside. i know because i asked and the shop showed it to me.

Hrmm. I did not know this. In the video, Yves Guillemot clearly says there is no retail version. Perhaps he is talking about for the 360 and the ps3?

 

[Bindal]

HINT a retail version? I saw the sucker last week in a retail store!
Still, good to hear that we may get more of these type of games, which allows devs and publishers to take a few more risks with a game while delivering a high quality title on par with full-price ones (Just way shorter)