The leaks that recently happened for Insomniac Games revealed a lot about the studio’s internal matters, such as the studio’s plans, roadmaps, and more.
Several personal details regarding members of the studio’s workforce were also leaked. Terabytes of data belonging to the studio were stolen, and then the cyberattacker asked the studio to pay a ransom. When the studio declined, all of it was posted in the public domain, and it even went so far as to post a dev build of the studio’s project available online.
Now, the leaks have also shed light on the profits made by the studio, and the profit made by the title Sunset Overdrive is now reportedly only in hundreds of dollars.
Sunset Overdrive’s Profits Are Even Lower Than One Expects From the Title
Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired the studio in 2019. Before that, however, the studio released games like Fuse and Sunset Overdrive. The former was not a game that sold well. However, the latter sold close to 2 million units.
SUGGESTEDBluepoint Games’ Next Project Has Been Revealed Due To the Insomniac LeakThe game’s sales generated a total revenue of 50 million US dollars. Now, as per the leaks that plagued the studio, it is revealed that the share of the studio in profit after all the other costs are subtracted is only 567 dollars. It is worth mentioning that the game was an Xbox and PC exclusive, both platforms by Microsoft, and was published by Microsoft Studios. The leaked document also suggested that the studio’s royalty share was zilch in the title.
All of this does not add up to the game’s sales and the positive reviews from the critics. For example, in the UK, the game was the second highest-selling title at the time of release and was only outsold by FIFA 15.
SUGGESTEDMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Incredible Budget Has Been Revealed, With Many Pointing Out How Unsustainable the Industry Is BecomingThe leak also revealed that the game’s development alone cost the studio upwards of 42 million US dollars. The leak also revealed sales figures and profits for other titles developed by the studio, including the PS2 Ratchet and Clank titles. Everything revealed so far indicates that the studio has made upwards of 1.5 billion US dollars in revenue.
Sunset Overdrive has been in development by the Marvel’s Spider-Man developer since 2011. This means the game took close to 4 years of effort for only a mid-triple-digit profit.
When the team responsible for brainstorming and creativity pitched the game to the superiors and the development was subsequently agreed upon, various publishers were approached for the same. Microsoft agreed to be the publisher for the title, which was odd because the development studio was known for mainly producing games for the PlayStation console lineup.
The True Gaming Community on Reddit Discusses Why Insomniac’s Title Was Overlooked
A post on Reddit was made by a user five years ago, which was around the time when Marvel’s Spider-Man was released for the PlayStation 4. The user was curious why the promising title, which received generally favorable reviews, could only sell 2 million units in its lifetime.
Some users said the game’s genre didn’t justify being played at 30 frames per second at 900p, which was the standard for gaming consoles back then. They also shared that the game would drop below the 30 fps mark, making for a rather unpleasant experience. Others shared that the game’s PR and marketing tried too hard to be “cool.” This was the actual comment on the post made by the individual:
Haven’t really looked into it because the marketing made it seem like one of those games trying way too hard to be “cool”-as imagined by a group of middle-aged not-cool PR folks.
Others were critical of the game’s offerings and said that the game’s story and characters weren’t up to par. They mentioned that the game lacks any factors that make it particularly memorable. The studio has lately produced good titles, whether the Ratchet and Clank series or Marvel’s Spider-Man series. The studio might not have had a fantastic start since its inception, but it has emerged as the leading contender amongst the various studios under the PlayStation umbrella.
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