Batman: Arkham Asylum sells 2 million copies. Warner Bros. restructures DC Comics
Batman: Arkham Asylum has sold nearly 2 million copies reports the LA Times. This makes the new Batman videogame a huge success and one that has defied all odds (comic-book videogame, licensed videogame, Batman videogame . . . none of which screams success. Though it should).
This is a great thing for Superhero videogames and licensed games in general, as it proves that comic book videogames can be big sellers if given the time, the effort, and the attention to detail (remaining true to the source material) that these games have always deserved. And something that developer Rocksteady Studios deserves huge kudos for accomplishing.
The game was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC not even a full month ago. Although it’s not known if the sales are worldwide or not, we assume they are and include all platforms. Still, it’s a great success story that has hopefully raised the bar for superhero-based games in the future.
Warner Bros. also announced a major restructuring of DC Comics that will allow the publisher more fuller control over DC Comic’s properties across all media — Videogames, Television, Movies, Comics, etc. This is a response to Disney buying Marvel Comics for $4 billion, and will allow the company to better leverage it’s comic properties to compete with the infinite-cash-filled Marvel.
Hopefully this will mean better things for DC Comics and not turn into a disastrous direction, as it WILL mean that the suits at Warner Bros. will have more say than the guys who actually write the comics. However sometimes that outside influence is a good thing, as has been proved by most of Marvel’s movies, almost all of which have been huge hits both critically and commercially.
Via LA Times
