Heavy Rain Sells 1 Million Units Worldwide in 5 Weeks - News

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 31 March 2010 / 9,613 Views

The Parisian game studio Quantic Dream has come a long way since their first game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, released in 1999. Now 11 years and only 2 games later, they have their first mainstream hit on their hands. While Omikron and Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy in North America) have both gained cult followings for their impressive use of atmosphere and interactive storytelling, neither was able to achieve Heavy Rain's commercial success. This is particularly impressive since Heavy Rain is Quantic Dream's first game to be exclusive to a single platform. Omikron was available on two platforms (PC and DreamCast) and the critically acclaimed Fahrenheit was available on four (PC, XBox, PS2, and even downloadable on the XBox 360).

Here's the regional breakdown of Heavy Rain's first five weeks of sales:

This is the third game on the PS3 to break the 1 million sales milestone in the month of March, right after Final Fantasy XIII's western launch, and the release of God of War III. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 brings that up to four million sellers in a traditionally slow month, giving the PS3 a nice grand slam right at the end of Sony's fiscal year.

But unlike Square's biggest RPG franchise making its HD debut, Kratos bringing his trilogy to its epic conclusion, or EA's big multiplat FPS, Heavy Rain is not a sequel to an established IP. In fact, by most standards, it's not even a game at all, but an interactive film, making these sales all the more interesting. Quantic Dream CEO and Heavy Rain writer/director David Cage calls it a film noir thriller, describing the game with film genres rather than game genres. Many would classify it as an adventure game, but unlike other adventure games it doesn't allow you to collect items, and it lets you keep playing after letting a main protagonist die. It throws most game conventions out the window, and most gameplay for that matter, but it seems all these unorthodox non-gaming qualities have actually created a winning formula for Quantic Dream.

It will be interesting to see what Quantic Dream decides to do next, since David Cage has stated neither Fahrenheit nor Heavy Rain will be seeing sequels. He didn't rule out a sequel to Omikron, which was apparently in development at one point and put on hold so they could make Heavy Rain, but after 11 years who knows if that will ever get finished. Most likely Cage will write another original story and ask us all to only play it once, since real films and real life don't have save points or "do-overs."

48 Comments

9thCaptain (on 02 May 2010)

I don't want to read too many comments because I know there is a huge spoiler that I don't want to hear somewhere in here. @_0

TyrannoV12 (on 01 April 2010)

Heavy Rain Rocks!!

GuiltySpartan11 (on 01 April 2010)

i might get this game when i get a ps3

Ping_ii (on 01 April 2010)

LOL fanboys got owned badly,

cmon lets see you make another "heavy rain will fail" threads.

Kai Master (on 01 April 2010)

I should say "cocorico" as we say in France, does VGC know what is the best-selling French-developped game of all-time or at least in their database?

nintendonitis (on 01 April 2010)

"It will be a big mistake not to develop for the PS3!" ... I can't remember who said this quote...

tjiscool (on 01 April 2010)

game sucked to me

kanok (on 31 March 2010)

This is great for a innovative game, i think if Heavy Rain can fully support "Move" when it is launched, it would be a win-win for both Heavy Rain and Move 's sales.

indodude (on 31 March 2010)

This is why Sony is awesome: Variety.

JayGee (on 31 March 2010)

Can't wait to buy this game next month with SSF4. I'm also proud that I haven't even run into spoilers yet!!!

SpartanFX (on 31 March 2010)

@antunessa

no ,,that's a key plot in the story,,,,you can't change that part.sad i knoww :(,,i felt really bad when it happened

Ssenkahdavic (on 31 March 2010)

Congrats. Always nice when taking a chance pays off.

yog-sothot (on 31 March 2010)

good, it's nice to see something of this kind getting high sales. It's different, it's well executed, etc. Well deserved

now if David Cage could just stop talking as if he was teh biggest genius in the industry, or as if traditional gamers were all a bunch of retards, that would be perfect

solidpumar (on 31 March 2010)

And the irony is that for the time Indigo Prophecy was way more unique and impressive. And Heavy Rain only improved on the Indigo Prophecy design.

Loved both games... and quantic dream deserves it, even if is 5 year late.

chuchy (on 31 March 2010)

@ rawnchie14 eveyone says yay ps3 because actually not anyone wanted to publish the game since it was too much of a risk. The game was projected to sell .5 mill which meant not so much money! Microsoft I read had the chance but passed since it would have meant a loss on their part. So yay ps3 for taking the risk and coming out great

dirkd2323 (on 31 March 2010)

I love it, there were all these people saying Heavy Rain would not even sale as much as the conduit on the Wii, And lots more negativity. Great Job Quantic Dream, and for Sony for believing in the vision, and last but not least for all the nay sayers. !!!!!!

LordTheNightKnight (on 31 March 2010)

This shows what actually hyping a game can do. Too many games get more critical kudos than actual marketing, regardless of the system (Okami on both systems is a good example), and they wonder why the games don't sell very well.
It shows that audiences outside of Japan are interested in story games (Japan of course has plenty and that's why the sales there are so low), and hopefully this will open up some more.

pnmen (on 31 March 2010)

I've just started it. I'm very impressed by the beginning. It feels like a movie but the game part of it changes everything. for me, this game is a revelation.

nintendonitis (on 31 March 2010)

bu bu but the Heavy Rain and PS3 are very high risk game and high risk console!

Rawnchie14 (on 31 March 2010)

@ themanwithnoname

Despite it seeming like a fanboys wet dream article, this is actually news because these types of games went under the radar for the most part - making emphasis on branching stories based on the players choices - more than anything else. Now this is an apparent niche title that managed 1mil, shows gamers are expanding their horizons a little.

I'm pumped that these types of games are coming back into the limelight. This is the closest thing to point and click games I miss so much.

Also... tone down the "yay ps3" crap. This is a win for Quantic Dream and Heavy Rain more than anything. Lets hope for more titles in the near future from them! (Loved Indigo Prophecy as well)

jbrist (on 31 March 2010)

Well they've done really well for themselves, let's hope they've made a nice bit of profit from those 1m sales, they definitely deserve it.

GuiltySpartan11 (on 31 March 2010)

all sony cared about was the money Quantic actually cared about the game

mightyERone (on 31 March 2010)

Meh!! These sales should be in one region. Its a GREAT game!!! Kudos for their first million seller. Omikron had a COOL intro song from David Bowie. I hope the game will have DL content (different episodes). Looking forward to what you can give us game players next. :-)

Marco (on 31 March 2010)

Heavy Rain is very emotional, i love it =)

Good work@producer

gustave154 (on 31 March 2010)

if this was a movie its gross earnings would be 1 mil x $60 = $60 million!!
This would be a smash-box office in my opinion xD

DEATH775 (on 31 March 2010)

@BENMARU looks like you didn't like the game. Lol. Well I certainly like it. can't wait to see Quantic Dream next project.

antunesaa (on 31 March 2010)

@SpartanFX

I am a mature gamer and I bought recently heavy rain in a ps3 bundle (it's a second ps3 for my family's countryside home). I'm absolutely enjoying it!!! I don't know whether it's possible for BEWARE SPOILER Jason not to be killed in the intro.

Attoyou (on 31 March 2010)

Never Expected this! i remember People saying this Game would hit 500K MAX. Anyways Awesome Sales, the Game deserves it.

Ravage27 (on 31 March 2010)

Don't forget about the upcoming ModNation Racers and The Last Guardian :)

Marco (on 31 March 2010)

Very very good. Buy a Ps3 guys, the game is awesome. Heavy Rain, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4 - Innovation!

papflesje (on 31 March 2010)

@ benmanu: Are you trying to say this game sucks then? :)

This game will be remembered as one of the highlights of this generation when all is said and done.

dirtylemons (on 31 March 2010)

Kudos to Quantic Dream, and a big thanks to all who purchased 'Heavy Rain' and rewarded Quantic (and Sony) for deviating from the norm!

benmanu (on 31 March 2010)

it sold only because there were lots of ads, show the game in an ad and it's sure to sell, people are too stupid to think, as long as they see it before their evening movie, they buy it.

you can sell shit if you advertise it well.

slowmo (on 31 March 2010)

I'm glad its selling well, hopefully it will make enough profit for them to consider more ventures into this genre.

SpartanFX (on 31 March 2010)

the game is awesome for mature gamers.puts you in the edge of the seat.

if you are a mature gamer, buy it ,,,don't hesitate.

this game was an experience to remember imo.

anyways congratz and well deserved.

thismeintiel (on 31 March 2010)

@ themanwithnoname

Probably because it is the only game that really isn't a game. At least not in the traditional sense.

@gamelover2000

I hope your joking, because those are awesome sales. One million sold (it's even more shipped, which is where the companies really make their money) is good for any game. Especially one that isn't a traditional game and was considered to be a niche title by some. It's even more impressive given the fact it released around the time of 2 other really big games, FF13 and GoW3, where it could have gotten lost in all the excitement.