On April 25 this year Outlast 2 landed on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and now we know that, six months after launch, Red Barrels' horror game has reached nearly a million copies sold.
The confirmation comes from co-founder and senior game designer Philippe Morin who said the following in a recent interview with Wccftech: "We're getting close to 1 million units sold, so yes we are happy. We knew the game would be polarizing, but what's the point of being an independent developer if you're going to play it safe".
During the interview, Morin was asked to comment on a recent statement made by a former Visceral Games developer, who mentioned that horror games are expensive to make and hard to sell since many customers like them, but don't buy them because they're too scary. This was his reply:
"It does make things trickier if you approach a horror game like you'd approach an AAA Blockbuster title. Horror fans are dedicated and passionate, but the horror genre is a niche. The bigger your budget, the more you need to reach a wide audience. Obviously, I'm not familiar with Visceral's detailed situation, but for us, it makes sense to make horror games".
He was also asked if the studio was planning another horror game for the foreseeable future, and he confirmed the interest from the studio to continue working in the genre, even if they want to experience something new as well.
"I don't think we'll ever abandon the genre, but stretching different muscles could be nice once in a while", he concluded.
It'll be interesting to see what Red Barrels will do in the near future. Are you a big fan of Outlast 2?