Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II was one of the bigger success stories for the industry last year. A sequel to a game over a decade old, the action title from Saber Interactive not only acted as a great introduction to the world of Warhammer, but it also served as a huge hit in terms of sales.
Speaking to The Game Business, Focus Entertainment owner Pullup Entertainment’s CEO Geoffrey Sardin spoke about how the company never thought Space Marine II would be as popular as it was. “To be very frank, we didn’t believe before we launched that we could hit seven million unique players. It was incredible for us. The word of mouth, combined with the perfect execution done by our partner Saber Interactive, meant we managed to expand the audience from the passionate Warhammer people, to people who can enjoy all the features of Space Marine II,” he said.
Sardin spoke about how a lot of the studios under Pullup Entertainment work with a specific audience in mind. “We do not design and produce games for everyone. We design and produce games for someone,” he said. “We remain true to what we believe in: uncompromising gameplay. The road to success for us is based on a simple idea: players are looking for niche and very targeted, impactful experiences.”
As we’ve seen since, it seems break-out hits are the ones that really understand their niche and the audience they’re aspiring to impress. Clair Obscur and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II are two other recent examples, and we’re sure we’ll see more as the games industry moves through this turbulent period.
