SOMA sells 92,000 copies in 10 Days

Frictional Games' SOMA

Frictional Games has made sufficient money from the first 10 days of sales from their game, SOMA, to "pretty much pay our company expenses for another 2 years," they've said.

SOMA released last week on PC and PlayStation 4. It's sold 92,000 copies and continues to move around 2,000 copies a day. For contrast, Frictional's another game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, traded around 20,000 copies in its first week, and 30,000 in the first month. The sequel, Amnesia: A Room for Pigs moved a striking 120,000 copies in the first week.

Frictional's Thomas Gripin said in today's statement that, “Our goal for SOMA's sales is 100,000 after a month, and at the current pace it should be able to reach pretty much exactly that with a few units to spare. However, this doesn't mean that we've come close to recouping all our costs. We need to sell almost 3 times that amount to do that. But given that it took us 5 years to make the project, there's no immediate stress to do so. One of the great things about funding SOMA 100% ourselves is that all money earned goes into our own pockets and is directly used to fund our upcoming projects. So we are under no pressure to recoup immediately so long as we get enough to keep going - which we certainly have now.”

“One reason this was so is probably due to expectations. While we've tried to be very clear that SOMA will be a different game from Amnesia: The Dark Descent, we have still used the name "Amnesia" as a way to grab attention. This sends a bit of a mixed message, as people might simply assume that because we say "from the creators of Amnesia", a similar experience will be provided. One idea would have been not to mention the studio's heritage, but that feels stupid from a PR perspective. Another idea would have been to tone it down a bit, but it's hard to say exactly how to do that. The fact of the matter is that SOMA, just like Amnesia, is very much a horror game. It's just that it is presented in a different manner, using slower build-up and more focus on the psychological aspects.”

SOMA is presented on PC through Steam ($35.99 NZD), GOG.com ($29.99 USD), and Humble Store ($29.99 USD), and on PlayStation 4 through PlayStation Store ($45.95 NZD).