Cage: Heavy Rain did the business

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 17 August, 2010

Has passed worldwide sales of 1.5 million.

Quantic Dream's David Cage has insisted his critically acclaimed PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain has done the business despite neither he or Sony expecting it to.

The game has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide to date, Cage told a packed session at GDC Europe (reported by GamesIndustry.biz).

And that figure's climbing.

"Heavy Rain is a commercial success and that's not something Sony or Quantic Dream expected, to be honest," Cage said.

Heavy Rain sold 600,000 copies in its first two weeks on sale, and four-times the predicted amount in the US market.

Cage hopes to reach two million sales soon.

"You need to be clear with your publisher," Cage added.

"It was a game that came together very late. If I showed you the alpha [build] you would kill the game. It looked ugly.

"Many publishers would have killed it. The game comes together very late and you need to communicate with your publisher because he doesn't have any reference.

"Publishers in general don't have balls. You need to come with a new idea and give them reason to trust you.

"Stop making games for kids. Adult is a huge, untapped market - there is almost nothing for adults, I'm not talking about casual or family games. There is a real market based on sophisticated values. See yourself as a creator, not a toy-maker. Ignore the rules."

We loved Heavy Rain, awarding it a deserved 9/10 review in February.

It's being reworked to use PlayStation Move controls, and the updated version will be released later this year.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (65) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • HisDudness #1 2 years ago

    It's always nice to see creative risks be rewarded with both critical praise and financial success. Bodes well for the future of our hobby.

  • BritishBlue1 #2 2 years ago

    I think Heavy Rain deserves it's success, while flawed, I did enjoy playing it and they took a risk you rarely see in the games market.

  • Goodfella #3 2 years ago

    Cue mickey2010 or some other twat saying it failed and Sony are doomed because it didn't sell 6 million.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #4 2 years ago

    Not enough to justify more DLC...

    /grumblemumble

  • richarddavies #5 2 years ago

    I thought Heavy rain was spanktastic. I loved it so im chuffed it's doing better than expected.
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/10 @ 09:12

  • El-Dev #6 2 years ago

    Really excellent game and deserves it's success.

  • iamian #7 2 years ago

    Agreed, it was a fantastic game. I've said before (and wonder if I'm the only one?) it was this that finally made me take the plunge and get a PS3. Would be nice to hear Sony give it some praise too.

  • frunk #8 2 years ago

    Great to see risks rewarded.

    This also means that Cage can push the envelope more next time... and keep on doing so until he disappears up his own arse... which will eventually happen. But it will be fun to see the journey!

    Sign me up!

  • darkmorgado #9 2 years ago

    ^^ I see the moron has landed.

    Mickey, I am honestly intrigued. Do you realise how stupid you are and just troll for the sake of it, or do you honestly believe in the blinkered, ignorant tripe that you spout?

  • Stompy #10 2 years ago

    "Interlectual", Mickey? Oh dear.
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/10 @ 09:30

  • Goodfella #11 2 years ago

    My work here is done.

  • kangarootoo #12 2 years ago

    @mickey2010

    Even when someone calls you out in advance, you still can't find something more original to say?


    "There hasnt been ONE new sony I.P. except the brilliant uncharted that could be classed as a reasonable commercial sucess on the ps3"

    Maybe you missed the bit about the 1.5m sales. Perhaps that doesn't impress you personally, but that doesn't stop it being a commercial success.

  • darkmorgado #13 2 years ago

    There hasnt been ONE new sony I.P. except the brilliant uncharted that could be classed as a reasonable commercial sucess on the ps3

    LittleBigPlanet, Demon's Souls, infamous...

    And good sales do not equal good game. Just look at Carnival Games on the wii.

  • ZizouFC #14 2 years ago

    For a guy who claims he wants to better the future of gaming for adults and break boundaries - He was pretty quick to jump on the Move bandwagon at the expense of DLC.

    Quite ridiculous seeing as he seems (claims to be) like the kind of guy who would've done the opposite.

  • darkmorgado #15 2 years ago

    For a guy who claims he wants to better the future of gaming for adults and break boundaries - He was pretty quick to jump on the Move bandwagon at the expense of DLC.

    All the reports so far have said he was "encouraged" to retrofit Move into Heavy Rain by Sony, and that he actually wanted to continue with the DLC.

  • Widge #16 2 years ago

    And Mickey2010 is once again eradicated from Eurogamer comment history...

  • darkmorgado #17 2 years ago

    I want a definitive ps3 racer or online FPS (still waiting), not the arthouse pretentions of heavy rain . If everything else was up to scratch on the ps3 , i wouldnt mind sony re-investing my money in HR.

    Newsflash buddy, you are not single-handedly keeping SCE afloat. It is NOT "your money" that they are using, and to suggest that they should listen to you is arrogant in the extreme.

    And if you want decent 1st party racing or FPS games (YAWN! How old are you?) then play Killzone, or Resistance 2, or Mag, or Wipeout, or Modnation Racers...

  • bladdard #18 2 years ago

    Mickey2010 what you should do is go away and play your xbox, stop pretending you own a PS3 and stop spouting drivel that makes you look like the worst kind of moronic fanboy.

  • darkmorgado #19 2 years ago

    I am not atroll

    Forum troll in "I am not a troll" shocker! More at 11.

  • kangarootoo #20 2 years ago

    @ZizouFC

    DC has publicly said he was disappointed at having to abandon the DLC, but he had no choice in the matter (unless he wanted to jump on the bandwagon of having no job).


    @mickey2010

    I'm not sure what to say. If you want lots of FPS and driving exclusives, you bought the wrong console (though GT and KZ surely qualify?). Doesn't mean the PS3 doesn't have good exclusive games, just that they don't rock your personal boat.

  • kangarootoo #21 2 years ago

    @mickey2010

    The three titles in question will have all made decent profits (LBP in particular almost certainly made a huge pile of cash).

  • darkmorgado #22 2 years ago

    darkmongol

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my god, your alteration of my username is sheer comedic gold! No, seriously, have you thought of making this a career?

    Aside from your ignorant rantings though, you have just proved that you are/were also Android2010. "Fable 3 pissed all over Demon's Souls with it's epic, Danny Elfman-esque score!" etc etc.

    Fanboy moron is fanboy moron.

  • ZizouFC #23 2 years ago

    @Mickey2010

    Try typing slower. You are clearly quite flustered.

    @darkmorgado

    Yeah, I know he was basically forced into it... still dissapointing though.

  • DavidBoring #24 2 years ago

    With all respect, you are forgetting this is the most expensive gen in history to develop games for. over half a million in the first few weeks on sale just doesnt cut it and probably doesnt cover QD/sony advertising budget/dev costs.

    you are probably right that the development and advertising costs are not netted in yet, but i don't think that this is the way the industry works. the success of HR shows that there is a market for this kind of games. the next games from quantic dreams will only need a fracture of the development cost for their next project. in the long run their games will be profitable (if they keep up the good work)

    I said it yesterday the first few weeks on sales is when titles mostly make their money , before being discounted quickly. except COD/ninty games. None of those games you mention did that well considering all this. THIS ISNT A COMMENT ON THEIR QUALITY

    i think you are wrong here too. the developers get the same cut even if the retailer is slashing the prices. and heavy rain still costs around 30 pounds, which is not bad for a half year old single player only game

  • Goodfella #25 2 years ago

    Just sell your PS3 and move on then. The world of game development doesn't revolve around you. The choice is yours.

  • lockload #26 2 years ago

    The marketing spend on this game was massive, i doubt came even close tpo making money

    Sony certainly expected it to sell more than 1.5m noone has balnket tv adverts weeks in advance sometimes twice an advert break for a 1.5m seller

    I found it very linear in the scene sense a great example i was at home waiting for the family to come home and i though why dont i set the table now before they come home, guess what you cant do it...why not? The option only comes available when the wife is home

    Small things like that that pointed out how linear each scene was and for no reason i can think of

    although saying that i enjoyed the game overall even if the story had massive plot holes
    Edited by 2 at 17/08/10 @ 10:01

  • Lee_Morris #27 2 years ago

    An utterly unique experience. If your intrested in seeing the broading of this industry they you should really play Heavy Rain. Everything isn't perfect in the game but it's thoroughly engaging with it's mixture of story and gameplay.

  • El-Dev #28 2 years ago

    The drugs have really appeared to f*ck with Donnies head, I'm pretty sure quite a few developers would take 2m+ sales of any game and consider it a success. As for needing to sell 1m copies in a week to be a "commercial success", no way is that accurate. If he understood that Halo, Gears, Mario and MW were the exceptions and not the norm he'd probably make more worthwhile comments instead of having most of his accounts banned on this place.

    It's pointless getting in to list wars with him as well because he doesn't accept any of them and continues to spout, "600k in a month is not a success, Sony are a failure... etc etc"

    Also, Heavy Rain is near enough full price everywhere so selling 1.5m is a success.

  • spekkeh #29 2 years ago

    I echo his sentiment that there's hardly any adult games out there. Good on him that his experiment has seemed to pay off. I don't (and won't) own a PS3, but I really want to play this game.

  • darkmorgado #30 2 years ago

    If Heavy Rain hadn't come along, I just might have sold my Playstation 3, and stuck to retro gaming.

    I *sort of* know how you feel, though in a slightly different way. I picked up the PS3 at launch and was instantly underwhelmed (Heavenly Sword, Resistance, etc) and ended up selling it. I ended up regretting that decision when the number of titles on the machine that I liked started to mount, so I picked one up again when the Slim came out just so I could play Demon's Souls on import, and since then I have around 25 games for it. Still a small amount compared to my 83 games on Xbox 360 and 30-odd on wii, but still a fairly decent amount.

    Between Demon's Souls, infamous, Disgaea 3, wipeout HD, Flower, Uncharted and Heavy Rain some of my most memorable gaming experiences have come on the PS3 this gen.

    When I look at Microsoft and Sony, I see two very different companies with two very different attitudes to the industry. Microsoft often comes across very much as agressive marketing, more interested in filling holes in demographics and sticking with tried-and-tested games. As a result, Xbox exclusives tend to sell more because they were DESIGNED to sell by ticking all the right boxes. As a result, you end up with a lot of decent 1st party games, but very few mindblowing ones.

    Sony, by contrast, seem to think more that gaming should sell itself, that diversity and originality should speak for themselves. As a result they end up producing or hosting games that polarise opinion and often have controversial design choices, but are far more unique and memorable.

    I can honestly say that, while the majority of my time this gen has been spent playing on my Xbox (though that is made up around 90% by 3rd-party, multiplatform releases), my most memorable experiences have been on the Playstation.

  • darkmorgado #31 2 years ago

    I can feel the ban hammer falling as we speak ,will they ever learn that great men throughout history who are persecuted for their views , are allways ressurected

    Posting fanboy rubbish on a forum does not make you a "great man". You realise that messiah complexes are a sign of serious mental illness?

    And haven't you thought that maybe, just maybe, if you keep getting banned that there might be, y'know, a REASON for it?

  • teabagger #32 2 years ago

    Commercial success is also measured in the amount of hardware units it shifted. It's not just about the sales, it's about expanding the user base. Killzone 2 is a great example of that; huge dev costs probably prevented it from making much, if any, profit by itself but it was a system seller.

    Also, I'm chuffed as anything for the guys that Heavy Rain did well. They should be extremely proud of their achievement.

  • Goodfella #33 2 years ago

    will they ever learn that great men throughout history who are persecuted for their views

    And so are twats.

  • darkmorgado #34 2 years ago

    LOL @Goodfella

    Have a +1, dear sir :-)

  • Jos #35 2 years ago

    I played Heavy Rain with the move controller at Beta rooms - it's excellent. The gesture based actions feel much more a part of the game. Very immersive. Was really impressed.

  • darkmorgado #36 2 years ago

    oh please just shut up, it's getting embarassing now.

    You clearly have a mental illness.

  • darkmorgado #37 2 years ago

    You're not single-handedly responsible for keeping Eurogamer going, and the fact that EVERY SINGLE BLOODY PERSON on the forums hates you is because you speak utter, unadulterated RUBBISH.

  • frunk #38 2 years ago

    @mickey2010

    Wow you almost made some good points in post #27, the rest come across as fanboi shite.

    What you fail to seem to notice is that a game is judged in context of its peers. Not every game has been designed to sell like a Halo sequel.

    Heavy Rain was not expected to sell, therefore when it did sell over 1.5 Million copies it came as a nice surprise. It is pretty much "out there" in game design.

    In those numbers it has made money... why are you so hung up on what it sold in the first few weeks rather than what it has actually sold???

    Profit is related to inital price/numbers and the length of the healthy tail on software sales while maintaining a price. As it is Sony published it will also be re-released on a cheap label and make more money then.

    It has been a commercial success despite no-one thinking it would be, this opens the door to more interesting and adult genres.

    Eventually each gen will get the perfect racer, FPS, etc (late for the PS3 - granted), but these other types of games are more important for devloping the hobby beyond its current perceptions and confines.

  • Widge #39 2 years ago

    mickey2010, you do have a habit of coming into every single PS3 thread to say how terrible SOMETHING is about whatever the article is.

    I know I sit more on the PS3 side of the fence more than anything else, but I DO try and balance myself out every now and again too.

  • Vanmunt #40 2 years ago

    when the my real donnie username was dropped EG ' comments section poster numbers shrunk dramatically overnight.

    Thats because you post the most inane drivel on this site.. Take away your insane rantings and replys on this thread it would only be about 10 comments! Pillock.

  • Goodfella #41 2 years ago

    mickey2010, read this.

    Click me

  • darkmorgado #42 2 years ago

    Funnily enough, I work in a mental hospital and many of our patients behave a lot like mickey.

  • Widge #43 2 years ago

    You're Donnie? Come on man, you've got worse than when you were under that name!

  • dingo75 #44 2 years ago

    i think you are wrong here too. the developers get the same cut even if the retailer is slashing the prices. and heavy rain still costs around 30 pounds, which is not bad for a half year old single player only game

    Yeah damn annoying that it wasn't put on sale yet.
    Still waiting for the 21 EUR price barrier until I bite but it took ages already. :p

  • Mkwone #45 2 years ago

    Utter rubbish sony have just lost the knack in making commercial hits

    MS have had huge hits with Halo 3 (8.1m) and the Gears of War Series (Cmbined 10m copies) but other than that their exclusives have done similar to the PS3 exclusives

    Halo 3 ODST (3m)
    Forza 3 (2.7m)
    Fable 2 (2.3m)

    Compare that to the Ps3 exclusves of

    GT5 : P (4.7m)
    Uncharted series (6.1m)
    Motorstorm 3.3m)
    LBP (3m)

    It's give and take

  • El-Dev #46 2 years ago

    "BTW many threats to Eurogamer "POWER" and their petty "mods" have mysteriously DISAPPEARED ,the excellent factimus maximus to name just one."

    Did he not leave because Splinter Cell and Alan Wake got 7/10?

    Hold on, maybe they gave those games a lower score to remove him from his threatening position...bastards!!!
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/10 @ 10:49

  • dominalien #47 2 years ago

    Didn't farticus get sane in the end? I didn't even know he'd left... Oh well, there are always new lunatics to replace the old.

  • kimchibaka #48 2 years ago

    I'm very surprised only one or two comments have been about the sad loss of the DLC episodes.

    Cage's explanation - that it was them or implementing Move controls, and hinting that there was pressure for the latter - has never struck true with me. Surely Move implementation requires a very small team (of programmers and testers) for a reasonably short time, while episodes would've required a 'full' team of talent (not as big as the game itself, obviously) to put in a great deal more work?

    Bearing in mind how much they could have made from the DLC it seems an absolute no-brainer to me. And it would've restricted the resale market, because unless you're going for Platinum I found it pretty dull to play through after the second time, and gave up.

    Or perhaps, being very cynical, that was the point - use the promise of the episodes to encourage people to hold on to the game for quite a while before finally letting them down?
    Edited by 2 at 17/08/10 @ 12:26

  • higganos #49 2 years ago

    I don't know what is more entertaining...Mickey's comments or the reaction to his comments.

    This is why I love EG. \O/

  • Markitron #50 2 years ago

    This thread was a hilarious read, I couldnt follow it cos I had mickey2010 on ignore from ages ago. Loved Heavy Rain tho, glad to see it do well

  • IkariW #51 2 years ago

    Nothing like a good reasoned discussion eh?!

    Fact is, unless you are a HR Dev (And most of the time Dev's don't get exact figures or any figures for that matter.) or Sony publishing, you don't actually know what the exact sales figures for Heavy Rain are.

    Quoting sales figures posted by publishers isn't 'knowing' the sales figures. By the time they are published, they've changed again.

    Just chill out.

    Ikari
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/10 @ 12:33

  • karooo #52 2 years ago

    Mickey2010 is some donnie character. this was his pm to me



    DO YOU THINK MSOFT ARE RETARDED AFTER ALL THERE A FAR MORE SUCESSFUL COMPANY THAN SONY AND HAVE THE SHEER CAPITAL TO TAKE OVER SONYS VIDEOGAME MARKETSHARE. btw blu ray has not been a sucess and is nothing more than a stop gap to DD movies as the poor up take shows. bad mistake sony pushing a unnneded hd format over your all conquering playstation brand. I dont live in usa btw . my names DONNIE080208 staff officer, english division , AFXG (advocates for xbox360 gaming)

  • JBlokeUK #53 2 years ago

    @Mickey2010

    Frunk pretty much summed it up with what he said here;

    ''Heavy Rain was not expected to sell, therefore when it did sell over 1.5 Million copies it came as a nice surprise. It is pretty much "out there" in game design.''

    No doubt Heavy Rain will hit over 2 million in sales. I personally haven't played the game but definitely plan on getting it in the coming months.

    Mickey was spouting the same rubbish about LittleBigPlanet so no surprise he is doing it here.

  • darkmorgado #54 2 years ago

    LOL @ karoo.

    That proves it - he's a mental patient. Maybe he's in one of the wards at work? *checks lists*

  • Gylfi #55 2 years ago

    What's the point in giving motion controlling, if it's not realistic, if you don't have to repeat realistic movements? The guy gesticulated like a drunken barman. What's the point, i repeat.

  • arbok #56 2 years ago

    I thought Heavy Rain was probably the worst game I've ever played. I don't understand why everyone thinks its genius. Firstly the story isn't very good at all, and it felt like an adventure game that held your hand the entire way because all it could do was QTEs. Is that what adults want Mr. Cage? For me, if i want a more mature game, I want to see more Demons' Souls. Not that every game has to be like Demons' Souls, but Heavy Rain doesn't offer anything innovative in terms of gameplay and in fact goes the other way and dumbs every thing down.

    I'm really disappointed that it did such big business because it means we'll see alot more games like it. Its easy shovelware for developers because they don't have to think about the gameplay system. Just whack on a story to a guy walking round in rooms with options that don't even matter.

  • makeamazing #57 2 years ago

    So Mickey2010 is Donnie, not surprised, as he was a muppet too.

    Seriously if you hate the machine, get rid of it. I am loving the PS3 and its games, yes Sony cocked up bigtime with the intial cost of the device and the games (I actually purchased a Wii 1 year before i got the PS3).... but you know what, from a games perspective - they have been just great.

    Coming in here and saying games that sold over 1 million have been a commercial disaster (and saying the same about LBP) just shows how little you know about the games industry.

  • El-Dev #58 2 years ago

    "my names DONNIE080208 staff officer, english division , AFXG (advocates for xbox360 gaming)"

    Donnie is indeed an Army of One.

  • Mkwone #59 2 years ago

    That proves it - he's a mental patient. Maybe he's in one of the wards at work? *checks lists*

    Searching donnie080208 on google might suggest tht you're not too far from the truth.

  • darkmorgado #60 2 years ago

    He's been banned - again. I gave Bertie a heads up about the rubbish he was spouting around threatening Eurogamer's power and the mods.

  • darkmorgado #61 2 years ago

    Searching donnie080208 on google might suggest tht you're not too far from the truth.

    LOL! Just done that and you're right. A drug addict who rants on the internet about how they are going to kill themselves with a Heroin overdose... and also gives out his home adress, email and telephone number.

    Not very smart.

  • GamesConnoisseur #62 2 years ago

    Pretty well respectable sales and best wishes for even higher milestones. Still with the size of PS3 install base nowadays meant there are a damn lot out there who haven't tipped their toes?

    A pity.

  • Bleemo #63 2 years ago

    "DO YOU THINK MSOFT ARE RETARDED AFTER ALL THERE A FAR MORE SUCESSFUL COMPANY THAN SONY AND HAVE THE SHEER CAPITAL TO TAKE OVER SONYS VIDEOGAME MARKETSHARE"

    Funny thing is that Microsoft in gaming are nowhere near as successful as Sony and neither as successful as Nintendo. Plus Microsoft's shareholders are known to hate the Xbox as it loses loads of money and they don't really care about being down with the kids, they just want money. Here's the raw facts and figures given to shareholders...

    [link url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/viperempire /chartimg4.jpg
    ]http://i4 .photobucket.com/albums/y122/vi...[/link]

    In summary Microsoft have been doing this for ten years and lost 9 billion dollars overall, Sony made loads of money on the first two consoles and blew most of it this gen, Nintendo bums all making 23 billion dollars lifetime, yowza.

    In relation to Heavy Rain I don't doubt Sony knew the risks so they will have budgeted accordingly. They probably thought if we break even and come up with a reasonably popular new format it will be worth it. Which strangely enough is not really what has happened they've probably made a small but substantial profit but I am not sure anyone is convinced that Heavy Rain style games going forward will be popular.

  • des #64 2 years ago

    Shit game sells...are people really praising this game for story and gameplay?...lol

    There are tons of shitty hollywood movies that are much better than this crap.

  • Gylfi #65 2 years ago

    If it'd been for PC it'd have sold 3x that.

    Let's start learning, Cagey boy?
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/10 @ 20:03