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Dark Souls crosses 2.3 million sales

From Software's role-playing game goes double platinum since launch in October 2011.

417 Comments

Dark Souls has sold more than 2.3 million units worldwide since the role-playing game launched in October 2011, developer From Software has confirmed.

Executive director Eiichi Nakajima revealed the sales figure during a recent event in Japan attended by gpara (via NeoGAF).

Dark Souls II
Dark Souls II

This figure is up from 1.19 million copies sold as of March 31, 2012, when publisher Namco Bandai revealed Dark Souls sales helped push the company to its strongest fiscal year since 2008.

During its launch month of October 2011, Dark Souls was the sixth-best-selling title in the United States, according to NPD data.

The Dark Souls franchise is set to grow, as From Software is currently working on a sequel for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, though its release date has not been divulged. For more on this title, check out GameSpot's first-look preview of Dark Souls II.

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dragonkantus

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Edited By dragonkantus

im pissed that such good game sell just that....in 2 years

2 • 
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shingui5

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@dragonkantus it's a hardcore, dark, jrpg. It was never going to have stellar sales figures. (especially with the unfortunate bias some people have when it comes to jrpgs; that bias being jrpg = bad, which is ridiculous)

6 • 
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malec_1

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Edited By malec_1

While this game is not for me(I hate repetition and very hard games require lots of it), I respect the hell out of this series and am thrilled it has done so well. Between Dark Souls, CDPR games, indie games and the CRGP successes on kickstarter, gamers are proving to major publishers that we do not want what they are telling us we want.

Some people want high levels of difficulty that isn't just cheap. Some people want engaging stories that leave you disappointed that the game is over when you finish. Some people want old school game mechanics with updated graphics.

Everybody does not want SOCIAL SOCIAL SOCIAL in every single friggin game. Everybody does not want their hand held to the point of it being insulting. Everybody does not want a military based shooter.

Listen up publishers, WE decide what we want to play, not you. And the sooner you learn that, the sooner we can all profit.

13 • 
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nechiken

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Edited By nechiken

@malec_1 Holy shit I agree so much with Military shooter....

At least on a personal desire, that is. I'm getting really sick of nothing but FPS being released this console generation. I miss the PS2 era where there were so many games and so much variety that I could go to a game store and find games I had never heard of before that I wanted to buy. Doesn't happen anymore.

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goggles123456

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@malec_1 I second the social nonsense. I don't want to share that I defeated some boss or got a score on some endless runner on twitter or facebook...nobody freaking cares!

2 • 
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Coseniath

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@malec_1 Publishers should learn from Skyrim about what players want...

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TohouAsura

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@Coseniath @malec_1 Not Skyrim?

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euphoric666

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superb amazing fantastic insane game.

2 • 
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wrestlemaniaw

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half of these people won't probably buy DS2...

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thorn3000

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heh, 2.3 milion in 2 years? Tomb raider had 3.6 in one month and it fell "short" of expectations....

3 • 
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Gravity_Slave

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@thorn3000

DS is a niche market. only the introverted masochists play this.

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blackace

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@thorn3000 SkyRim did more then that in a month I believe.

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dragonkantus

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@thorn3000 marketing....

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Coseniath

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Edited By Coseniath

@dragonkantus @thorn3000 Not really. Don't forget the production cost... They had their CEO resigned for this :P

2 • 
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chimpdaddy

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@Coseniath @dragonkantus @thorn3000 exactly, he resigned cause the losses couldnt pay for his expensive salary, look at end credits in games these days, only about 20-30 devs extra working on games since the ps1/ps2 era and the rest of the money is spent on marketing and expanding the budget for useless tacked on multiplayer, also a bulk load of expenses are for the managers of the managers of the ceo of the managers assistants who manage the other managers who only manage 6 devs, its too much a corporate bullcr*p

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wcwj26

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Please From Software, don't release this until i've finished MHU3.

There's not enough hours in the day for me to be getting on with 2 hardcore, hack n slash RPG's!

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AzelKosMos

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Edited By AzelKosMos

It deserved it. Roll on Dark Souls II!

8 • 
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DiamondDM13

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Good News!

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dragonkantus

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@DiamondDM13 2 milions in 2 years..this actually bad news...

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blackace

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Edited By blackace

@dragonkantus @DiamondDM13 Considering Dark Souls was on 3 platforms and it got "AAA" score, it should have sold well over 4 million copies in 2yrs. 2.3 million is a small amount, especially when there are well over 250 million gamers on on all 3 platforms.

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tightwad34

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Edited By tightwad34

@blackace Not quite 250 mil. Keep in mind there are lots of people who own all 3, but only play PS3 and 360.

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TohouAsura

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Edited By TohouAsura

@blackace @dragonkantus @DiamondDM13 Not at all. Alot of other games some would consider to be even more engrossing than the Souls or more punishing sell like shit.


You know why? Because Souls, and those games, are niche. They aren't the mainstream.

So for a game like Souls to go double platinum, is a good achievement, to say the least.

Plus, you can be sure it earned for the developers more than Tomb Raider or the latest Crysis 3 did. Why? Because they spent so little on marketing in the west, there was no loss to recoup for. They are mostly seeing positive revenue from every sale, while other devs are still paying debts.

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goggles123456

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@blackace @dragonkantus @DiamondDM13 Still, 2.3 million at 40-60 bucks a pop...

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DiamondDM13

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@dragonkantus @DiamondDM13 If you think so. For a hard, unforgiving, but great game, I find it great. Remember, nowadays, it's mostly garbage that sells. Just check the trackrecords for the last CoD games, you'll see what I mean.

8 • 
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dragonkantus

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@DiamondDM13 @dragonkantus indeed this make me sad..

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MagicSoupDragon

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Edited By MagicSoupDragon

I really enjoyed this game. The seem to bring a genuine sense of originality that i must admit i rarely see. this is one sequel i am really excited for!

2 • 
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kiramasaki

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Look square enix, you dont need to sell 5 million copies of a game to be successful. Darks Souls is graphically and gameplay wise better than any of the eidos games they put out, it sold less than all 3 of them including the recently released tomb raider, but its considered a success and made money.

4 • 
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TohouAsura

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@kiramasaki

"graphically"

HAH. No.

"gameplay "

Arguable, but i'll go with it.

Square Enix needs alot of sales because of money spent on Marketing.

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k2theswiss

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only 2.3m? that's sad. Deserves at least twice has many. Hopefully they don't put it on games for windows like PC version. I was ready buy it again for PC until i heard that

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MuddVader

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Edited By MuddVader

@k2theswiss I believe they stated that there would be GFWL. Its server based now or some jazz. Don't recall the full statement

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Bubbagum_Bish

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I bought it twice! My PS3 stopped reading discs so I bought for Xbox heh

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fanirama

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Edited By fanirama

Best games I've played in recent memory - Dark Souls and Demon Souls. I kept coming back for my daily dose of punishment. It is almost like a form of discpline-building game. Patience, one at a time, block, attack once, retreat, block, attack, take your time, focus on task at hand, have a pre-built strategy instead of blind rush etc.


Few games have life lessons like this. This not a game anymore. It is education for life.

2 • 
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dussan2

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@fanirama it's almost like old school fighting games. Trying to pull off a combo, and failing, you try agian. It's not that the game was cheap either. It's that you the player fucked up somehow and teh game punished you hard for it.

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arpit360

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Deserves every single penny it earned

11 • 
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96augment

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@arpit360 It deserves more.

5 • 
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GenericUser12

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I love this game and I'm so glad they ported it to PC. I'm actually reinstalling it right now since I haven't beat it yet. Hopefully this time I will!

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darsoul1111

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@GenericUser12 http://darksouls.wikidot.com/lordvessel.http://www.youtube.com/user/EpicNameBro

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plaintomato

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I've done my part. Bought it six times so far.

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LAnoirFAN

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Edited By LAnoirFAN

@plaintomato i've bought 2 and i don't regret it

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InGaTe_04

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Edited By InGaTe_04

@plaintomato explain...

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plaintomato

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Edited By plaintomato

@InGaTe_04 @plaintomato Bought it for 360. Moved to Playstation for Demon's Souls. Then went to PC when PTD Edition released. Stuck with PC but have bought it for gifts several times. lol...not all six were for me.

8 • 
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CaptainBerserk

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Edited By CaptainBerserk

@plaintomato Good job.

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xSagez

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Still not enough for one of the best games I ever played in my life. I'm disappointed in this world.

13 • 
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shingui5

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@xSagez it's sold exceptionally well for what it is.

be happy, and then remember that it has sold enough to warrant a sequel. All is good in Dark souls world

Praise the sun!

5 • 
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xXNutcrackerXx

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@xSagez

It's a great game, but to a smaller niche of people. I loved it, and only 1 out of the 4 of my friends who played it could actually get into it.

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Sorciere_basic

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Triple A publishers don't like this news they want to kill all "B" games.

Thanks From Soft for being better than Triple A's is every possible way.

14 • 
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dussan2

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@Sorciere_basic Don't believe for a minute the From Software doesn't want to be the next Square. They just haven't gotten there yet.

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MuddVader

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@dussan2 @Sorciere_basic That's a silly statement. Everyone wants to be successful. The important thing is that they hold on to their identity.

2 • 
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grin89

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@Sorciere_basic never heard of b games

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CaptainGamespot

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Edited By CaptainGamespot

i like this and demons souls. best games this generation.

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Seifer24

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Can we have an actual whip that does damage in dark souls 2?

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