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…
Nuclear Throne and Ridiculous Fishing developer Vlambeer is back in business after co-founder Jan Willem Nijman purchased 100 percent ownership of the studio.Nijman, who previously owned 50 percent of the studio, acquired the other half from fellow co-founder Rami Ismail after the pair decided that Vlambeer would be "better off" in the hands of a sole owner.The move means Vlambeer, which was effectively placed into stasis in 2020 after the duo parted ways to pursue other ventures, is making something of a comeback.In a thread on X, Nijman explained he will make sure Vlambeer's long-gestating project Ultrabugs finally gets released and will provide an update for Ridiculous Fishing EX."I want to preserve the classic Vlambeer games, and make sure they get the maintenance t…
Dwarf Fortress has topped 800,000 sales on Steam in just over a year.That's according to developers Tarn and Zach Adams, who shared the latest sales milestone with PC Gamer during a recent interview.Dwarf Fortress officially launched on Steam in December 2022 after spending over a decade in production and early access. Publisher Kitfox confirmed the title amassed over 160,000 sales within 24 hours of launch. As of February 6, 2023, it had topped 600,000 sales.At the time, Kitfox co-founder Tanya Short said Dwarf Fortress had delivered "good success," with the title's performance generating over $7 million in revenue for developer Bay 12.Kitfox also broke down the title's sales trajectory during the two months following its full launch and indicated it massively ove…
Sega Europe has informed employees that it plans to lay off 240 workers in the coming weeks, and that it is selling off Company of Heroes 3 developer Relic Entertainment.According to emails sent to staff reviewed by IGN, word of the layoffs was issued to staff early this morning. In a conciliatory note by Sega Europe COO and regional managing director Jurgen Post, he revealed the company would be laying off 240 employees across Sega Europe and Creative Assembly. "A small number" of employees would be laid off from mobile game developer Hardlight.Post apologized to employees for "the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those effective," before going on to say the decisions were "necessary to secure the future of our game business…