More than 1m copies of Heavy Rain sold

By Ellie Gibson Published 9 April, 2010

Cage reckons another 500k will be shifted.

Quantic Dreams boss David Cage says a million copies of Heavy Rain have already been shifted - and he reckons that figure will rise by half as much again before the year is out.

"We have sold more than 1 million copies of Heavy Rain worldwide," he told Play3.de (as translated by VG247).

"That was a surprise to many, since estimated sales were between 200,000 to 300,000 units. We estimate that by the end of the year, we will have sold 1.5 million copies."

Cage David acknowledged that developing Heavy Rain was "a risk", what with it not fitting neatly into any genre boxes. However, that risk appears to have paid off - "We are very pleased with the reception," he stated.

Speaking of which, 9/10.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • karooo #1 2 years ago

    Brilliant, lol at the *bots* who said it will fail and sell 300k lifetime

    /giggles

  • chessboxer #2 2 years ago

    My copy remains unopened at the moment. I've currently got 15ish games in rotation on the PS3 and 5 on the PC.

  • HermitArcader #3 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • CaptainQuint #4 2 years ago

    Good game, but much of the impact was lessened, when I had the twist ruined for me. Fucker.

  • jag10 #5 2 years ago

    was enjoying it until i got the God of war collection and god of war 3. (yeah i know, should of got the trilogy lol).

  • The_Inquisitor #6 2 years ago

    Good for you, good for the industry and hopefully good for the rest of us, if we get to see more story driven games like this.

  • Doctor_What #7 2 years ago

    I'll be getting a copy at some point, so I'll be in that 500k. Good on Cage for showing intelligent games can sell. I'm very happy for him, and for our industry. Maybe we can stop being quite so obsessed with space marines now.

  • menage #8 2 years ago

    I wasn't wowed by the demo, but will pick it up when it drops in price.

  • iamian #9 2 years ago

    Really glad it's done well.
    It was this game that made me finally get a PS3! Thank's David :)

  • slippysloppy #10 2 years ago

    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. Frustrating to control, overly short and it failed on its promise of "different decision, different game". What it did have was an engaging storyline, characters I cared about and it created a genuine emotional from me - though some could argue that the death and kidnapping of small children would be enough to get to anyone. Compared to Mass Effect 2 or Fallout 3 though, the game is extremely linear, small and disappointing yet still I want more and can't wait for more games like this.

  • Slipstream #11 2 years ago

    Considering the hype and vast amount of time spent on the games development, those initial figures are pretty low. This would've made sense if the game was bad, but it's far from it.
    Edited by Slipstream at 09/04/10 @ 10:20

  • sfp_noodle #12 2 years ago

    well done QD. altho its a such a shame tht this game will not reach lifetime sales of other great exclusive titles such as gears of war and uncharted series. considering its a new IP and something so different tho, congrats to QD and sony for having faith in them

  • vegard #13 2 years ago

    good to see that not only shooters can sell well (though i DO love a good shooter).

  • NGCes26294BIV #14 2 years ago

    ""That was a surprise to many, since estimated sales were between 200,000 to 300,000 units."

    Bullshit. They could never have greenlit the game on estimated sales of 300k. The ROI would never have worked.

    If the budget is as high as suspected, they would have needed 1m+ just to break even.

  • MeBrains #15 2 years ago

    NGCes26294BIV: not necessarily. Sony could as well have been funding the game because it is in line with the "it only does everything" tag. compare to the overly simplified and imagined 360 tag (this is just to bring up the idea I try to convey -> ): "it only does FPS's".

    Like console manufacturers lose on HW, they might as well lose on a game if it diversifies their library. Was SotC a safe bet after Ico, is TLG? Not really, but they do fit in their strategy.

  • captain_Carl #16 2 years ago

    Brilliant. Congratulations Mr Cage :D Very happy for hi and the team at QD, Heavy rain was fantastic indeed

  • banjo21 #17 2 years ago

    Great game. Dodgy controls at times. If a game is all about the decisions YOU make then make it clear how to implement your decision with the control mechanism. Far too often I made a decision, wanted to execute an action that represented it but had no idea which of the multitude of button/movement combos on the screen would actually implement that action.

    Hate to be a sad old man but Madison was wonderful even if I was never quite sure if she was his wife or not.
    tbh not really sure what happened to his wife - just sort of left the story (and no thats not a spoiler).

  • NGCes26294BIV #18 2 years ago

    @MeBrains

    No, sorry. Software is the place the big three make most of their money - especially Sony, as they don't charge for online. They would not have funded this on a loss of 20m+

    And yes, the math says = 300k x £24 (the rough amount given to publisher after retail, distrubtion shares etc) = £7,200,000.

    Is anyone here going to genuinely argue that HR cost less than 15-20m to make, not to mention the same again on marketing worldwide? Or that Sony would puposefully throw away 20m+ to 'diversify' their catalogue?

    Edited by NGCes26294BIV at 09/04/10 @ 11:00

  • mychuma #19 2 years ago

    Have not played it yet. Good news for innovation in gaming though.

  • MeBrains #20 2 years ago

    @NGCes26294BIV: imho: yes they would. They would and they do fund atypical games which are no sure commercial successes. To the tune of 20 million? Given what is at stake in this business, it sounds like peanuts... so, again, yes I would think they'd take that risk...

  • NGCes26294BIV #21 2 years ago

    @MeBrains

    Fair enough.

    Perhaps that explains why Sony have dropped from first to third during this generation.

  • NotSoSlim #22 2 years ago

    People who say 1m sales are low are the same people who think every game has to sell Halo numbers to be a success. Success is relative to the genre, platform and expectation of dev and company investing (Sony in this case)

    Same thing will happen with Last Guardian when it gets released.

    Heavy Rain wouldnt have the same sales expectations as say GT5 in Sony's book
    Edited by NotSoSlim at 09/04/10 @ 11:22

  • NGCes26294BIV #23 2 years ago

    "Success is relative to the genre, platform and expectation of dev and company investing"

    Wrong.

    Success is relative to the investment. If a game costs 20m to make, then it needs to sell a certain number of copies to break even, That number doesn't change because the game is of a particular genre.

    Games are a business - return on investment works in exactly the same way, and most publishers have shareholders that want to see a solid return.

    People have got to stop thinking that the games industry is somehow different from the rest of the business world.

  • NotSoSlim #24 2 years ago

    @NGCes26294BIV

    As i said in the rest of my comment Heavy Rain wouldnt have the same level of expectation as say GT5 so to you it may not be a success but to Sony and QD it may be.

    Sony would of looked at Heavy Rain very carefully before investing an took a risk the thought was worth it. Analysts predicted the game to bomb as did some gamers and fanboys but selling over a million is great for any dev especially on a single platform

  • PlugMonkey #25 2 years ago

    Like console manufacturers lose on HW, they might as well lose on a game if it diversifies their library. Was SotC a safe bet after Ico, is TLG? Not really, but they do fit in their strategy.

    Do you really think Ico and SotC really helped Sony's stranglehold on that generation? Games like GTA and God of War did that. Outside of a few game nerds like us, Ico and SotC didn't even exist.

    Games that nobody is interested in don't help you sell your console, because nobody is interested in them.

  • Acrid #26 2 years ago

    Hopefully this will give more publishers an incentive to release new and unusual IP.

  • NotSoSlim #27 2 years ago

    @Ashen

    No one knows how much Sony invested so maybe that covered the possibility of any loss. Look at GT5..GT5P has near enough covered any costs Sony paid out for developing the game. Sonear enough all sales will be profit even after marketing.

    Sony and QD may of seen 700k - 800k as making there money back so any extra could be all profit. Its all speculation at the end of the day
    Edited by NotSoSlim at 09/04/10 @ 12:00

  • HermitArcader #28 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • linksdad #29 2 years ago

    I'll be one of the 500k if the price drops close to used prices. Otherwise I'll be in with the million.

    Didnt read anymore comments after Captainquints becuase I know there is a twist, but I dont know what the twist is, and would rather not untill revealed in the game.

  • Bravestinsane #30 2 years ago

    Not played it, don't own a PS3

    But from what i heard about it, it deserves it good going people who made it.

  • MeBrains #31 2 years ago

    NGCes: "Perhaps that explains why Sony have dropped from first to third during this generation."

    I am mighty confused now. What has that to do with Sony investing in a diverse library? again imho: this would make them keep their first position more than anything else.

    I guess you are mixing things up. EVERY single business - at least I can not quickly imagine any - other first loses money by investing in products and marketing them. Look at investing in atypical games as a marketing strategy and 20 million becomes quite a low price to pay. I wonder how their support of the champion's league costs them. The printed ads, the radio campaigns, the television spots cost WAY more than one "expensive" game.

  • mattius30 #32 2 years ago

    Understanding the motives, budget sheets and finances of Sony and its strategy for a game such as Heavy Rain can only ever be speculation for us lowly consumers. However, perhaps we should look at how the movie industry works as an idea of how 'high concept' art projects are funded.

    For example, 20th Century Fox make HUGE returns on its movies such as Star Wars - and some of the funds of these money-printing summer blockbusters are resevered for the backing of Fox Searchlight, Fox's indie arm, producing critically acclaimed but risky box office titles like Quills or Kinsey. If there wasn't such a system in place these high risk projects would never get greenlit.

    I think its naive to suggest that such a high risk project as Heavy Rain was okayed by Sony with the expectation that it would sell 10m in its opening weekend. It does however promote the PS3 as something different, it does provide the console with a critically acclaimed and unique first party exclusive and it has evidently exceeded Sony's and the industry's expectations in the numbers shifted so far...

  • des #33 2 years ago

    Shitty games sell,news at 11...zzz

  • MeBrains #34 2 years ago

    des: we are not discussing Halo here. move on chap.

  • alcides #35 2 years ago

    Wow, that's a LOT of "Jason".

  • Edwin #36 2 years ago

    best game this year so far for me... with GOW3 close at its heals, great year to be a gamer folks!!

  • lockload #37 2 years ago

    they must of expected more than 1m the marketing on this game was huge, something two adverts in one break

  • Quixz #38 2 years ago

    I didn't have high hopes for this one but seems like i was wrong..

  • PlugMonkey #39 2 years ago

    mattius:

    Even the weird, arty 'Searchlight' films will be expected to find a market and turn a profit, or they will be considered a failure, and some of them will be expected to break out and make 10x their budget or more. If you make a weird film for $400k and it takes $46m, like Napoleon Dynamite, then that's good business. If you make a weird film that costs $80m and takes $8m, then that's a potentially career ending disastrous vanity project, no matter how much it might 'diversify' the studios 'library'.

    Heavy Rain wasn't a low budget art-house game, it was a big budget, heavily marketed 'system seller'. You can't sell many systems if you only sell 300k copies.

  • E_Goldstein #40 2 years ago

    wow, im one i a million. Woop

  • FuzzyDuck #41 2 years ago

    Overheard on a recent-ish trip to the local gaming dungeon - (refering to the in-store video) "oh, it looks like GTA - it has a car and people; we should buy it so!". Now i really do hope that person was one in a million.

  • onlyONEman #42 1 year ago

    wow! I have to say best game ever! I like this game so much!
    http://ps3ego.de
    Edited by onlyONEman at 08/02/11 @ 14:50

  • TK1990 #43 1 year ago

    Heavy Rain is awesome!

    I just got allPS3 Trophies including platinum!