Batman: Arkham City ships 4.6M in first week, 2M sold

by Ben Gilbert on Oct 25th 2011 10:15AM

Batman is kind of a big deal, with his latest starring role catapulting Batman: Arkham City to astronomical shipping numbers: an approximate 4.6 million in the first week. LA Times reports that among those shipments, Bats has already slipped into 2 million homes.

By most accounts, Batman: Arkham City is earning those numbers, with reviewers (including our own) praising the sequel's densely packed open world and attention to detail, among other things. And if the rest of those shipped copies eventually end up in consumer's homes as well, the game will have already surpassed sales numbers of its predecessor (4.3 million). Not too shabby for a development studio whose only non-Batman game is about being a random police dude!

Source: LA Times, Warner Bros.

Tags: Batman-Arkham-Asylum-2, Batman-Arkham-City, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, rocksteady, rocksteady-studios, sales, warner-bros, warner-bros-interactive, warner-brothers, wb, wbie, xbox

Reader Comments (45)

Not really a surprise, Arkham is a great game and it´s now a great franchise. the quality that this game has could be compared to metal gear if somebody would´ve told me that this game was created by kojima i´d have believed him in a sec, that´s the amount of quality this title and the first one have. I was a little worried for the amount of villains they added to this last title, i thought that i could be a villains fest who were going to get only 3 or 5 seconds of onscreen time just to make fans happy, but it looks like they did an awesome job just as expected, now i just hope the pc versions appears faster.

@Hunter141072

I agree. The Arkham series has modernized Metal Gear in the same way that Uncharted has modernized Tomb Raider, and Dead Space has modernized Resident Evil. Brilliant series, all of them.

@Hunter141072
I would not have believed anyone who told me this game was developed by Kojima, because the plot actually makes sense and doesn't include trying to cop a feel.

@sigma8
And by "sense", I don't mean mean realistic. I'm just saying I can follow it and it doesn't seem totally ridiculous.

@Notme2

I had heard that it was villian overload, but I just finished the main story last night and I can only remember running into a handful, and all of them were pretty well woven into the story (especially the last one.)

@sigma8 The plot makes sense? lol. It was a bit more convoluted than your typical Batman plotline and there were a more than a few plot holes here and there.

Like how did Strange find out who Batman really is? Why didn't the Joker use the cure when he had the opportunity instead of waiting for Batman to show up at the theater?

I also can't help but feel that Ra's Al Ghul really should have been the final boss you faced instead of being in the middle.

@sigma8

Even tough it´s true that kojima sometimes goes a little bit too far with his stories i don´t think they are really that hard to follow, it´s just a mater of paying attention it´s not really that hard, i think the only one who was a little bit confusing was sons of liberty, the rest are not really that complex. But what i meant was that this guys really did what kojima does, they created a good story with villains that are not only a bunch of idiots who are trying to kill you because that´s what their parameters said, it was a well developed story and a real proof that games can have as much quality as a movie, that is something that before arkham only kojima and few others did.......

@copa Players have still not received their missing Catwoman and other DLC codes that were supposed to be included in Batman Arkham City new games, even after contacting customer support. No one answers from the WB support phone or email.

Gamers are still complaining in the official Arkham City forums:

http://community.batmanarkhamcity.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/2-Website-News-Announcements

http://community.batmanarkhamcity.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/13-Technical-Issues

@Faceless Troll

Dude, spoilers much? This game is only a week old!

@baby sea tuna Wah wah wah. I didn't give away any important details.

I bought 4 of those 2 million copies......no, I seriously did though...........

YOU SEE WHAT PRE ORDER BONUSES MAKE US DO WB?!!?

: )

These guys came out of nowhere to be a really big deal. They are a top developper in my opinion.

In other news, the PC version is now delayed until 2017.

@Destati Hardy har har.

I played the last version's demo, but I couldn't get into it at all. So many people rate these games highly, and my friends all say it's a great game. I may have to re-visit this one and see if I can get into it.

The dust pile of games I have is growing ever so much though, with BF3 arriving today and I have barely had time to play Gears 3. Gonna have to wait for this one to get massively discounted before I pull the trigger I guess.

@Muckrak3r

The first game's demo includes what, one fight and a predator room? Talk about BARELY scratching the surface. The subtle game mechanics, layer by layer that the game adds every step of the way, are amazing. Do yourself a massive favor and just nab a cheap copy of the first game. You'll be drooling with delight.

@Muckrak3r You really have to sink a few hours in, get a grip on the combat system and the controls before the game really starts to get fun. For the first 2-3 hours I was "meh", but after I started upgrading some stuff, got better at the nuances of flying and gliding, and started making progress on side missions and unlockables it finally started to sink in.

AC is the best game I've played this year and that's saying a lot since I replayed Uncharted 2.

i'm glad this game is doing well, it really is a great game.

I haven't played anything else since City arrived on Friday.

@Undulation Hey I did the same exact thing....that's a lie, I've also been playing the new Professor Layton but I beat AC and the majority of the side missions.

In before someone claims how many more copies it would have sold if not for the minor Catwoman DLC PR mess.

Seriously tho, awesome game, congrats Rocksteady. I'll start my New Game + when I get home tonight.

@baby sea tuna Don't forget to choose the alternate ending when playing as Catwoman in chapter 3.

I wasn't sure I was going to buy this game. Then I found out it has hats.

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/214498-hd.jpg

How many copies of other games usually ship? Will bunches of City games be in bargain bins in 3 months?...

@mikepaul

They print and ship based on sales projections including perceived quality of the game, brand popularity, and success of previous franchise games. It sounds like the initial shipments were pretty much aligned with what the last game sold, though hopefully it'll sell even more than "Asylum" did.

I just want 'The Dark Knight Rises' on blu-ray ASAP :P I can't wait for that film :P

Congrats to Rocksteady.

I wonder what's next for them...

@MLC

Hopefully some more games with incredible voice acting. Probably my favorite part about the game are the two lead actors.

@Anticrawl NOLAN NORTH!!!!

I have to admit I wasn't going to buy this game until it became cheaper..... But wal-mart sold me last night. Batman Arkhym City + Batman Arkhym Asylum GOTY Edition + Catwoman DLC? No way to pass that up. I'm only about 2 hours into the game and it's awesome.

@Faceless Troll The arkham city 5 issue comic explained that sir

@Stuwie Then it didn't do a very good job at explaining the story. I actually believe those should be self contained within the game(s) themselves.

@Faceless Troll Except this game is based on the same universe as the comics. Unless you wanted them to make the first half of the game explaining the last 50 years of the comics (since strange is one of the first villains there was), then stop complaining. Strange knows who Batman is because he figured it out while Bruce was in a hospital he ran. The details are not that major. The main thing is the he KNOWS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Strange

Rocksteady kind of has to assume people playing this know something about Batman already, since the world is far too deep for them to explain every detail. And a lot of games these days have stories that are told in comics and other sides media besides just the game.

@Xero Theory There's a difference between "general knowledge" and "important plot specific details".

Not all of us are able to keep up with the dozens of plots that have happened over the past 5 years.

Having a hard time pulling myself away from dark souls to play this... but still an amazing game

@GuardianLegend2 My brother beat Dark Souls yesterday and he said that it was probably the greatest thing he's ever done in his life....yeah, the game is that effing hard.

Batman: Gotham City confirmed.

@iceveiled That would be SICK!! (in a good way.)

Speaking for myself, I could care less about yours or any other sites review. I will not give credit to you.

@AzumaNinja Being a douche is fun isn't it?

Urban Chaos: Riot Response is an underrated gem, more people need to play that game.

@DeadpooI That was my last Xbox game I played and it was a great game. =)

The only thing that could make this game better is if it included the Danny Elfman Batman theme from the Tim Burton movies/90's animated series. That music is the shit, and I so want to beat up thugs to it.

Okay maybe a Batman/Robin co-op mode would be awesome too.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City ships 4.6M in first week, 2M sold

Reader Comments (45)

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:20AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:30AM copa said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:31AM sigma8 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:32AM sigma8 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:53AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:39AM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 12:00PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 12:58PM Oozinator said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:52PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 5:54PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:21AM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 4:56PM The Cole Train said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:25AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:25AM Destati said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 2:02PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:29AM Muckrak3r said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:35AM Mister Darcy said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:21PM iceveiled said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:36AM Milf Biggenson said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:37AM Roxas560 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:41AM Undulation said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:35PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:46AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:36PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 10:53AM Copybass Ah jeez zombies said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:12AM mikepaul said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:23AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:15AM RealityCheck2011 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:19AM MLC said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:32AM Anticrawl said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:37PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:27AM xDoorakx said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:54AM Stuwie said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 12:12PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 4:44PM Xero Theory said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 5:57PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 12:16PM GuardianLegend2 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 2:01PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:19PM iceveiled said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 2:00PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:20PM AzumaNinja said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 1:59PM legacybush said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 4:09PM DeadpooI said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 11:20PM stamps79 said

Posted: Oct 25th 2011 8:01PM Scnew said

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