Hellblade is profitable after selling 500,000 copies

Ninja Theory shares some stats three months after launch.

We're big fans of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and apparently we're not the only ones - UK developer Ninja Theory has announced that the game has sold over 500,000 copies.

That would be small fry for a triple-A juggernaut like FIFA or Call of Duty, but for an "independent AAA" game like Hellblade, which took a team of 20 people around three years to make, that mean the game has actually turned a profit.

Unusually for a prominent developer, Ninja Theory has shared some key stats on its official website, which we've reproduced below:

  • Over 75k pre-orders across PC and PS4 before launch.
  • 250K units sold in the first week at $29.99.
  • Over $13m in revenue generated in 3 months.
  • 500k units sold in 3 months, which puts the project beyond breakeven and into profit. Our prediction was to be at this point in 6 months from release.
  • Development took 3 years and with an average team size of 20.
  • Game sold as digital-only.

The studio also posted a developer diary to mark the milestone:

It's unusual to be given this level of detail on a game's fortunes in the market, so the stats are very interesting. It's also worth remembering that Ninja Theory donated all proceeds from October 10 sales to mental health charity Rethink to mark World Mental Health Day. Hellblade was celebrated at launch for its depiction of psychosis.

We're big fans, as you can probably tell, and if you haven't tried the game yet, it's currently discounted over at GOG.com on PC.

Editor-at-Large

Tom is probably best known for the 15 years - FIFTEEN YEARS! - he spent at Eurogamer, one of Europe's biggest independent gaming sites. Now he roams the earth, but will always have a home here at AllGamers. You can try and raise him from his deep, abyssal slumber through tom.bramwell@allgamers.com or he's also on Twitter.

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