Sales for Toys for Bob's Crash 4: It's About Time managed to surpass 5 million copies in its life…time.That's according to design director Toby Schadt, who revealed the milestone for the "well-received sequel" on his LinkedIn. It marks the first real indicator of how the platformer's done, sales-wise.Crash 4 released in 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was the first new entry since 2008's Crash: Mind Over Mutant and eventually came to PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Toys for Bob, Crash, and Spyro
With this news, it's quite clear that Toys for Bob was successful in reviving both Crash…
The Fallout games are becoming popular again, thanks to the new TV adaptation. Per SteamDB, individual player counts for Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 all doubled days before its April 11 premiere, then during the weekend.Of the three, Fallout 4 had the most players at a peak of near-83,500 players on April 14, then Fallout 76 (39,455) and New Vegas (19,300). As of April 15 (today), Fallout 4 has nearly 68,000 players.Fallout 76's April 14 count is actually its highest ever on Steam. It came to the platform in April 2020, nearly two years after its PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One release in 2018.By comparison, Fallout 4 and New Vegas' numbers are well behind their all-time peaks. The former opened to nearly 473,000 players on Steam in 2015, and the latter just ove…
A new survey from the Game Developer Collective shows concerns over video games' monetization methods, particularly as it pertains to live-service games.600 developers were interviewed between February and March 2024. The live service label, according to a respective 67 percent and 53 percent of devs, are defined by their frequent updates and in-app purchases.39 percent of participants had mild worries over current live-service business models. 31 percent were "very" concerned, while a combined 29 percent either had no fears or were unsure.
Within less than a month, Unicorn Overlord has sold over 500,000 copies.Atlus' new tactical-RPG released on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 4 and 5 on March 8. While the publisher didn't highlight a standout console, Nintendo Life pointed out the Switch version did particularly well in the UK on launch week.
Why did Unicorn Overlord do so well?
Unicorn Overlord released during a particularly busy period: along with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, March was filled with the likes of Rise of the Ronin, Princess Peach: Showtime!, and more.Vanillaware's games fill a particular niche, and Unicorn may be its fastest-selling title. Its last game, 13 Sentinels:…
The rocky performance of Overwatch 2 is hitting its developers financially. A new Bloomberg report claims Blizzard staff who worked on the hero shooter won't receive any bonus compensation.Developers often get bonus pay depending on a game's critical or commercial performance, and Blizzard is no exception. Last summer, a new policy change made it so payouts were now tied to a franchise's overall performance.Ex-Blizzard presidents J. Allen Brack and Mike Morhaime reportedly spent a decade calling for everyone to be fairly compensated. Conversely, then-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick aruged those behind the most "lucrative" games should be rewarded the most.The teams for Diablo IV and World of Warcraft were well-compensated, given how well those two games did in…
A new report from Windows Central alleges longtime Xbox executive Kareem Choudhry is leaving Microsoft after today, April 8.It's alleged that his leave was both amicable and unrelated to and layoffs or restructuring efforts from months earlier. His leave seems to have triggered a major leadership shuffle at Microsoft meant to streamline Xbox's future console and Game Pass plans.Choudry's best known for operating as Xbox's corporate VP. Along with Project xCloud, he was key to Xbox's backwards compatibility efforts, and famously promised the Xbox Series X would "eat monsters (read: the Xbox One X) for breakfast."
Xbox pre…
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has created an acceleration program specifically for the country's independent games scene.Known as So-Fu (or "create a new wind"), the program provides mentorship and financial support for indie developers. Unlike other initiatives like Screen Australia, which helps its local creators financially, this is more centered on the practical parts of development.As noted by developer Takaaki Ichijo, this marks the first instance of direct support for indie developers from Japan's government. Ichijo is also involved with the program, which he said furthers his dream of "helping [the] rise of Japanese indie game developers."To be eligible, individuals and teams must be of Japanese nationality, or have permanent res…
It's a radiant day in San Francisco, and I am surrounded by indies. You can't turn a corner in The Midway without locking eyes on the most fascinating, offbeat morsel of interactive media you've seen since all of two seconds ago. The talent on display at the latest edition of Day of the Devs is electric and inspiring, and for a few glorious hours in the California sunshine, you'd be forgiven for thinking the game industry has finally reached nirvana.It hasn't, of course. The world of video games continues to treat developers big and small like interchangeable components in a dystopian corporate machine. Funding cuts, widespread layoffs, project cancellations, and the perplexing notion that video games should be made to appease shareholders rather than spread joy ha…
Capcom's newest release, Dragon's Dogma II, has sold 2.5 million copies over two weeks after its release.The fantasy-RPG released March 22 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. On PC, it was a hit within hours of launch, since it opened to 200,000 concurrent Steam players.2012's Dragon's Dogma took a month to sell 1 million copies. The sequel selling double that in about half the time speaks to how much that first game resonated, and how well Capcom's done at marketing this installment.In the weeks since its release, Dragon's Dogma II has also come under fire for its microtransactions, which makes this success even more notable.Additionally, Capcom revealed the larger Dragon's Dogma franchise has now sold 10 million copies. The bulk of that naturall…
There's a new Steam game going viral, and its name is Content Warning. Launching as a free-to-keep title on April 1, the co-op title saw nearly 204,440 concurrent players.Additionally, it was picked up by 6.2 million people (at time of writing). "Never did we imagine that we would get over 200K concurrent players," said publisher Landfall, "and over 6.2 million owners of the game in 24 hours!"While it's now $8, that doesn't appear to have hurt Content Warning's prospects. Currently, it's got around 125,000 players and is among Steam's top sellers, below Dragon's Dogma 2 and Destiny 2.Content Warning is similar to Lethal Company in that it tasks players with working together in horror scenarios. Here, though, players have to do things t…