Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice (Gaming)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Sunday, October 29, 2017, 09:49 (2372 days ago) @ Cody Miller

This article at Redbull.com (of all people!) has what I think is the money quote:

Key to this model is that we’ve kept our budget low and, as such, we don’t need to sell millions to break even. We need to sell in the hundreds of thousands of copies to make our money back, which gives us the confidence to make a game that isn’t aimed at everyone. Our lower budget means we can take more creative risks without fear of not being able to achieve the multi-million unit sales that the big blockbusters now need to be deemed a success.

When it came out that Tomb Raider didn't meet its sales targets after selling 3.4 million copies in four weeks, having a game like this built to be sustainable in perhaps 1/10th the number of copies sold feels pretty good.

It's a game with a very strong story and visual style. It has no DLC. No loot boxes. No progression system. Its puzzles and combat are both pretty good. And it will be making a profitable return on its investment.

You may be right that it's "AAA quality at an indie budget" narrative is a bit overplayed, but just looking at the facts of what was accomplished... I hope we see more of this style of development.