First-party PlayStation Studio, Insomniac Games recently faced a Ransomware attack and hackers demanded $2 million to not release the data online. The threat was indeed real, and once Sony refused to pay, the hackers released the private documents on the internet for everyone to see. Incidentally, the documents contained sensitive information on the studio and its contributions to PlayStation. Moreover, it has been recently found that Insomniac’s well-known titles Ratchet & Clank and Sunset Overdrive were considered commercial failures despite receiving rave reviews.
Before gaining success with Marvel-related projects for PlayStation, Insomniac Games was largely known for franchises like Ratchet & Clank, Spyro the Dragon, and more. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Sunset Overdrive, are considered pinnacles from the studio in recent years apart from Spider-Man. However, even though most fans rate these games highly, the profit margin hasn’t been that good.
According to a report made by Insider Gaming based on the leaked documents, it has been found out that Insomniac Games managed a profit of $567 with Sunset Overdrive. Moreover, various sources state it took the studio $42.6 million to develop the game and they observed sales close to 1.89 million copies.
The sales numbers were enough to bring in a revenue of $49.7 million and yielded a profit close to $5.3 million for Insomniac Games. However, after paying Blind Squirrel Games for co-developing Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac Games was only left with a three-digit profit number.
Information on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart sales numbers are still cloudy as many claimed it to face a $8 million loss. However, this information is untrue as data leaks suggested that the game went into profit in no time. The same has been debunked by Insider Gaming as well, and the misinformation has since been corrected. However, despite the newest Ratchet and Clank game making a profit, the numbers aren’t anywhere close when compared to other PlayStation exclusives, and Sony might still consider it a commercial failure.
Games facing failure in sales affect development studios as it costs a lot of money to create games. For instance, Activision faced massive losses in 2017 and managed to break even in 2018. The company met losses again in 2022, leading the company to almost sink. As a matter of fact, Microsoft had to get in and acquire Activision in hopes of reviving it financially.
Insomniac Games is no different in this matter as money decides the fate of a studio. No matter how popular a studio gets, it has to do its best to keep good sales numbers and stay afloat. It was recently projected by Sony that games need to be as high as 80-100 dollars, as they are considered cheap by current standards. A similar statement was made by Capcom President, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, showing the extent studios are willing to go to make profits on their products.
Despite Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’s getting a less-than-ideal response for PlayStation 5, Insomniac refuses to give up on the franchise
Despite facing a hard time with early sales of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac Games still wishes to release a sequel for PlayStation in 2029. However, before that, the studio will have to work on future Marvel projects and sell 6 million copies of each game on PC and console combined. Failing to do so will lead to a termination of their contract and Disney has the right to demand $9 million as a settlement.
Though it has to be mentioned that the low sales number of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, was due to the lack of early adopters for the PlayStation 5 console. Consumers weren’t ready to shift over during that time as PS5 didn’t have that many games. Moreover, as new games started to get released for the platform, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was soon forgotten.
Netizens claim that Insomniac Games did manage to make a profit out of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in 2023, but no paperwork has been found regarding it yet. Regardless, fans will get to see a sequel for the franchise in the future.
Despite being aware of the long wait, Ratchet & Clank fans are willing to eagerly wait for four to five years to see what Insomniac Games has in store. Fans wholeheartedly expressed their love for the studio and extended their support in hard times like these. Moreover, fans are ready for everything Insomniac has in store in the coming years, leaving Ratchet & Clank aside.
