300,000 is a lot less than 1 million. But yeah, it seems Frictionals operating costs are currently "50,000 SOMA sales/year"
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SOMA - sales, reception, etc. after ten days
- Thread starter SkyTurnsRed
- Start date
I really really want to buy this game, but I always chicken out with these no weapons, stealth based horror games. I still have the original Amnesia and Alien Isolation sitting on my HDD, waiting to be played.
I'm glad they're getting good sales though, Frictional deserves it. They've been working on this one for a while now.
I'm glad they're getting good sales though, Frictional deserves it. They've been working on this one for a while now.
The Praiseworthy
Member
I'm really glad that they are happy with the results... They did a great job in SOMA.
BLUElightCory
Member
Good to hear, planning on picking this up. This game seems like it'll continue to do well, there are a lot of other "big" games out right now and I think a lot of people will check Soma out when they've had their fill of MGSV, Destiny, etc.
I'm pretty sure it will eventually get to 300k. It didn't even get let's play from big youtubers like Markiplier and PewDiePie (which really helped Amnesia)
The game's amazing. Hope it does really well for them.
It isn't.
The game's amazing. Hope it does really well for them.
It isn't.
Oh yes it is.
Give War A Chance
Member
The $30 price point has held me back from buying this at launch, especially due to the number of $60 games I want that are coming out soon.
If it hits a discount/sale anytime soon, I won't be able to not bite.
If it hits a discount/sale anytime soon, I won't be able to not bite.
Dunno. Broken Age (the complete package) released at the same time for PC/PS4/Vita.
Solid Raiden
Neo Member
I love how open they are with communicating with their customers. I'm happy to have supported them with a ps4 copy purchase. I haven't played it yet though, was waiting til closer to halloween. Though if it isn't as scary as I assumed maybe I'll dive into it now, instead.
Cave Johnson
Member
Oh lol, I multiplied 3 twice.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
really nice detailed post, even if it aint our business i like their way. they really should consider a physical release of all their games including this one for consoles though i guess they missed the opportunity this halloween but doable next year imo.
The thing I couldn't understand is some outside areas which had loads of detail seemed perfectly ok, while some others did what you describe. Almost like some areas have infinite draw distance.
I played Amnesia after I finished SOMA.
yeah there not the same at all beside movement controls.
LordGorchnik
Member
Some horror veterans he spoke to toted this as the "scariest game they have ever played."
I would love to speak to some of these people. I was just hoping at one point it would happen and it never did. A cool game though and enjoyed the story behind it all.
I would love to speak to some of these people. I was just hoping at one point it would happen and it never did. A cool game though and enjoyed the story behind it all.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I'm glad it's a success for them so far. I will buy the game at some point, but I have a lot to play right now and at £24 it's a little more than I am willing to pay for a digital game (£20 is my limit).
Really great when indie devs share this kind of information though. It's so interesting but we rarely see this level of breakdown.
Really great when indie devs share this kind of information though. It's so interesting but we rarely see this level of breakdown.
Can someone source the breakdown for Broken Age, I haven't seen it.
Searched but found nothing.
chekhonte
Member
both amnesia games made enough money to fund Soma, they don't need to recoup all the cost to keep the studio going for the next 2 years since they didn't go into debt to make.
YES, around 40K sold on ps4 by steam spy.
Maybe they mean that it takes them 5-6 years to make a full game, but so far the profits from SOMA have paid for ~2 years of dev time for their next project.
Well for me it was one of the scariest games I've ever played. It was super effective on me. The whole psychological aspect of it really got to me in a way most of these kinds of horror games don't.
chekhonte
Member
Steam doesn't allow anybody to share sales for reasons I don't understand either but that's the reason they (or anybody else) can't share sales figures.
People figure it out though. Often times companies will give a total as well as xbox and playstation sales and the remainder will be the PC sales.
I had no idea what SOMA was until about a month from release.
I then learned it was a horror game and coming from the Amnesia guys.
I then saw all the great reviews.
I bought it at launch (having only played for an hour I still don't know what the title means).
Until very recently (some banner ads out now) one had to do some research to discover what this was all about.
I then learned it was a horror game and coming from the Amnesia guys.
I then saw all the great reviews.
I bought it at launch (having only played for an hour I still don't know what the title means).
Until very recently (some banner ads out now) one had to do some research to discover what this was all about.
What? Valve doesn't care about sales figures once they leave their office, publishers and developers are free to do as they please.
Thank you!
The_Architect
Member
You might have rushed through it a bit then. These kind of games are meant to be explored slowly; looking at all the little details in each room which tells its own story.
And Amnesia is literally Penumbra
It just means they had more money in the bank before development of SOMA began, 5 years ago, than they do today. But the amount of copies sold will keep them going solid for another 2 years.
marlowesghost
Member
I'm about halfway through, good to hear it is doing well in the wild.
Yeah, I've gotten plenty of hours in this game. I explore all the rooms and details, and when something interesting happens, I take a moment or two to ponder the thoughts the game gives me.
TheMrPliskin
Member
Really interesting read, I'm glad to hear that the game is doing well.
Bought it on PS4 a few days ago.
Sat down to give it 4-5 hours of my time, ended up wasting around 2 hours loading/reloading the game because of hard crashes with error messages, being physically stuck and unable to move and complete sound loss at times.
From what I did get to play though, I really really enjoyed. It has a really good vibe and atmosphere that reminds me of playing Half Life 1 for the first time. It's one of the first games in quite a while that I've actually wanted to be extremely thorough and check/read/pick up everything only just to learn about the world and setting.
It already had one patch when I bought it, I think there was another one today/yesterday. Just going to wait another week or so and pick it up again once everything is working correctly.
Sat down to give it 4-5 hours of my time, ended up wasting around 2 hours loading/reloading the game because of hard crashes with error messages, being physically stuck and unable to move and complete sound loss at times.
From what I did get to play though, I really really enjoyed. It has a really good vibe and atmosphere that reminds me of playing Half Life 1 for the first time. It's one of the first games in quite a while that I've actually wanted to be extremely thorough and check/read/pick up everything only just to learn about the world and setting.
It already had one patch when I bought it, I think there was another one today/yesterday. Just going to wait another week or so and pick it up again once everything is working correctly.
Neff
Member
I think these guys are talented, and I think they have it in them to make a good game, but SOMA wasn't it. A short, linear, simplistic, albeit mostly enjoyable 'experience' first, game very much second, and not one I feel compelled to revisit. It feels like a £10-£15 game in terms of mechanics and design, not a £22 game, and I regret buying it. Really pretty, though.
Yeah, really disagree. It's very much a game, not a "experience". Lots of puzzles and enemies. It's just on the easy side. Wouldn't call it short, either, especially in comparison to both Amnesia's.
Yep, so many nice visual details like (Not a story spoiler, but a detail spoiler)
The different people hooked up to the WAU, my favourite so far being the guy who literally has a computer fan in his chest, it's just so..weird and you start to wonder "Why?"
Same here. I wouldn't hesitate to call it the best horror game I've played. Not because of the mechanical aspects of the monster encounters, but because of the way it builds the overall tension, the themes and the story. Really creepy stuff IMO and much more interesting than the typical limited resource monster fighting jump scare horror, we're often presented with and which I typically forget about as soon as I turn off the system.
Really love Soma and hope it does well for them.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Just at a guess, I'm going to go with 52k on Steam (SteamSpy data), 12k on other PC storefronts, 28k on PS4. Given that their last big game never showed up on consoles, it makes sense that they'd see more sales on PC.
CarbonFire
Member
I hadn't really paid attention to its release, but after watching the GB quicklook, and hearing that it's from Frictional games, I'll definitely be picking up a copy when I have time to play it.