Heavy Rain A Hit: 1.5 Million Anticipated By Year’s End

We admit to having been worried about Heavy Rain . We were concerned that such an intelligent, thoughtful game would fall flat in the wake of a still-immature gaming population intent only on shooters.

But the critics spoke and thankfully, the gamers responded. It's official: Heavy Rain is a hit. According to what Quantic Dream boss David Cage told German source Play3.de , the engrossing masterpiece has topped the 1 million sold mark worldwide, which he further adds "is a surprise to many." Original estimated sales were between 200,000 and 300,000 and now, the expectation is that Heavy Rain will have sold about 1.5 million units by year's end. Cage said he is "very pleased with the reception," especially considering the fact that his game doesn't really fit into any particular genre.

"Our game isn't an action game, it's not a role-playing game, [and] it's not an adventure. It isn't in any one genre. When you create a new, convention-busting game to the market, it's always a risk, both for the developer and the publisher."

What we're a little surprised about is the expected sales range…would Quantic Dream and Sony really have made enough money on this ambitious project if it had only sold 250,000 copies? Or were they actually anticipating a small failure of sorts? Furthermore, it makes you think about the differences between studios; Ninja Theory said Heavenly Sword "just didn't make enough money" and that one sold 1.5 million. …you can see the source of our confusion. But anyway, we really couldn't be happier that Heavy Rain is an official hit; it proves what we wanted to believe all along: many a gamer has grown up.

Related Game(s): Heavy Rain