Although most video game developers don't release sales numbers, Frictional Games took to its blog to announce that its latest title, the sci-fi horror game SOMA, recently hit 92,000 sales since it released 10 days ago.
Considering that Frictional Games is an independent studio, 92,000 is a very respectable number: that includes both PC and PlayStation 4 sales (for legal reasons, the studio can't offer specific sales numbers per platform).
In fact, sales were so good for SOMA that Frictional won't have to worry about going out of business anytime soon: the company wrote that what it's earned from SOMA will pay its expenses for at least two more years.
However, SOMA still sells around 2,000 copies per day, although that number will drop over time. At the current rate, though, it is likely that the company will reach its goal of 100,000 copies sold within the month.
Frictional also provided comparisons for its previous games' sales. For example, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, its first game, only sold 30,000 copies in its first week. However, the follow-up to that game, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, sold 120,000 copies within the first week. Both of those games, though, were only available for the PC. SOMA is the first game Frictional has released for both PC and a console, the PlayStation 4.
However, that's not to say that SOMA hasn't received some criticism (although most critics have scored the game highly). Most who complain about the game say that it isn't scary enough. Frictional tried to explain that this complaint comes from those who've played their previous titles, which offered a different kind of horror game experience.
"While we've tried to be very clear that SOMA will be a different game from Amnesia: The Dark Descent, we have still used the name 'Amnesia' as a way to grab attention," wrote Frictional on its blog. "This sends a bit of a mixed message, as people might simply assume that because we say 'from the creators of Amnesia,' a similar experience will be provided."
However, there's another reason Frictional believes some aren't finding the game scary enough: horror is subjective, and what scares one person won't scare another.
"The reactions to how scary SOMA is range from 'not at all' to 'the scariest game I have played,' and some of the people in the latter camp are survival horror veterans," writes Frictional.
Frictional wrapped up its blog post by saying that it's learned a lesson about managing gamers' expectations. Now that SOMA's sales have done so well, the developer can apply that lesson to its upcoming titles, for which it probably now has funding.
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