Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Dark Souls II Blasts Past Shipping Milestone Set By The First Game
From Software's Dark Souls II has earned respect from both fans and critics, who say the game is a worthy follow-up to its 2011 predecessor. Looking at Bandai Namco's most recent financial report, it's clear that the punishing game has its share of supporters at the publisher, too.
According to the report, 1.2 million copies of Dark Souls II have been shipped between the game's March 11 release date to the end of the month. That number doesn't include sales of the PC game, which was released on April 24. To provide context, it took Dark Souls 1 nearly six months – from its Oct. 4, 2011, release to March 31, 2012 – to reach that same number of shipped units.
A quick glance at the other games on the statement shows just how important From's game is to the publisher. The second highest-shipping game on the list is God Eater 2, a Japan-only game for the PSP and Vita that shipped 700,000 copies. After that is Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z at 620,000 units, followed by the Japan-only JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (550,000 units) and Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life (500,000 units).
[Source: Bandai Namco]
Our Take
It's clear that Dark Souls is important to Bandai Namco in the short term – at the very least – and it's going to be interesting to see how From Software's recent acquisition by publisher Kadokawa will affect things moving forward.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
