South Park: Stick of Truth Sells 5 Million, Sequel Could Do Better and Here's Why

2014 role-playing game South Park: The Stick of Truth has now "sold" more than 5 million copies, publisher Ubisoft announced this week as part of its latest earnings report. It is unclear if that number represents copies sold-through to consumers or shipped to retailers, but whatever the case, Ubisoft believes it is a success. A sequel, The Fractured But Whole, is coming next, and it could sell even better.

The Stick of Truth was a "very nice positive surprise," Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez said on an earnings call. "We have the conviction that we can beat South Park this time again [with The Fractured But Whole]."

The executive went on to say that, because The Fractured But Whole is being developed internally (The Stick of Truth was made by Obsidian Entertainment), Ubisoft has "more comfort" around the game.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot added that South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are putting "a lot of energy" into The Fractured But Whole. He said it is a rarity for creators of a franchise to be so heavily involved in the production of a licensed game. This should also work to the game's benefit, Guillemot said.

The Stick of Truth was originally going to be published by THQ, but the company went out of business. During its bankruptcy auction, Ubisoft paid $3.3 million to acquire the game. The Fractured But Whole was announced at E3 last summer.

The game is in development at the newly announced studio Ubisoft San Francisco. Details are light currently, but Parker says the game provides a new chapter which "continues the story of The Stick of Truth. It gets into the story of why your butthole is so amazing. "

"We get deep inside the butthole," Stone continued.

The Fractured But Whole is one of five big games from Ubisoft due out during the company's 2016-2017 fiscal year. The others include the just-confirmed Watch Dogs 2, Ghost Recon Wildlands, For Honor, and an unannounced new IP.

For more on The Fractured But Whole, check out the announcement trailer above.