It was great to see a superhero video game done right (finally) when Batman: Arkham Asylum hit our consoles back in 2009. The game received a ton of critical acclaim, and went on to score itself a bevy of awards, including a a Guinness World Record for the ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever‘.
Now it seems the much anticipated sequel, Batman: Arkham City is headed in the same direction. The game has already garnered some impressive scores from the gaming community at-large and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Rocksteady Studios has announced that the game has become the highest reviewed videogame of 2011 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and it’s sold more than 4.6 Million copies worldwide in the first week.
Check out the press release below for all the details.
Press Release:
Batman: Arkham City Week One Sales Top 4.6 Million Units Worldwide
Critically Acclaimed Sequel From Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Rocksteady Studios Becomes the Highest Reviewed Videogame of 2011 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3 System
BURBANK, Calif.– Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced that Batman: Arkham City™, the critically acclaimed videogame developed by Rocksteady Studios, has shipped more than 4.6 million units worldwide since its October 18 North American launch on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.
“Rocksteady Studios went above and beyond in delivering an incredible game and the support of the entire team at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment drove the excellent campaign a game like this deserves.”
The week one sales figure for Batman: Arkham City is more than double the number of units sold of Batman: Arkham Asylum in the same time period and solidifies the game’s place as a contender for one of the top-selling titles of 2011. Additionally, the game currently stands as the highest reviewed PS3™ and Xbox 360 game of 2011 on Metacritic.com with average scores of 96 and 95 respectively.*
“Batman: Arkham City is one of the best action adventure games, proven by the tremendous reviews, and it further establishes the Batman brand as a marquee franchise for our growing business,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Rocksteady Studios went above and beyond in delivering an incredible game and the support of the entire team at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment drove the excellent campaign a game like this deserves.”
“The true test for any game is what the players think and we have been thrilled by their reaction to Batman: Arkham City,” said Sefton Hill, Game Director at Rocksteady Studios. “The team at Rocksteady put every ounce of effort into making the best Batman experience we possibly could, so we are overwhelmed by the incredible feedback from the community.”
Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players flying through the expansive Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Featuring an incredible Rogues Gallery of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals including Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze and many others, the game allows players to genuinely experience what it feels like to be The Dark Knight delivering justice on the streets of Gotham City.
Batman: Arkham City is based on DC Comics’ core Batman license and rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. The game is currently available on Xbox 360 and PS3™. The Games for Windows version will be available beginning Nov. 15, 2011. Fans can visit www.batmanarkhamcity.com for more information about the game.
*Compiled by Metacritic.com, one of the web’s best resources for critical information about film, video, games, books and television.
About DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.
About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.
About Rocksteady Studios Ltd
Rocksteady Studios is a multi-award winning videogame developer based in London, England. Located in a spacious, purpose built converted factory, with full motion capture and audio studio capabilities, Rocksteady is an energetic company formed by a core team of senior industry professionals. This creates an ideal balance of drive, talent, proven methods, experience and cutting edge technology to make AAA games. Now employing over 90 people, Rocksteady’s mission is to be a highly professional, efficient company whose purpose is to make great games, and have happy and healthy team members. This philosophy is the heart and soul of the company. Rocksteady received the coveted ‘studio of the year’ award at the 2009 VGA awards.
BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY software © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Developed by Rocksteady Studios Ltd. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows Vista Start button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Xbox, ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCTdm8Nb7Ps[/youtube]
Batman: Arkham City is set inside the now “heavily fortified” walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, and the game features a brand-new story that “draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe.” Part of that “all-star” cast includes Cat Woman, Mr. Freeze and Two-Face.
Batman: Arkham City is available now!
