Developer Hazelight Studios has announced that It Takes Two, “a brilliant co-op adventure with a wild amount of variety” per our review, has now sold over 20 million copies. The milestone comes roughly three-and-a-half years after the game’s release, and is a simply astonishing number for an original two-player experience. It certainly vindicates studio lead Josef Fares’ bullish promise to give $1000 to anyone who got bored of it.
It Takes Two has sold well since release, but it has clearly retained momentum long past the point where many games stop selling: possibly because it’s such a fun shared experience, and exactly the kind of game I can imagine people recommending to their friends (I know I have). Obviously the critical plaudits didn’t hurt either, with the game also garlanded at The Game Awards and the BAFTAS, and it has had some big discounts across the various platforms in this period.
To get down to brass tacks, It Takes Two sold a million copies in the month following launch, with the most recent official figure being 16 million in March this year. So it’s shifted four million copies, give or take, in the last six months.
That’s the kind of success that has led to an upcoming film adaptation from Amazon Studios, with no less than Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock producing. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this doesn’t have a shot at any awards though, after Fares accepted a gong at The Game Awards by saying “F*ck the Oscars! F*ck the Oscars! F*ck you!”
Needless to say, Fares also had something to say about this latest milestone, and took to social media to tease Hazelight’s next game.
“Getting a lot of questions about the next game,” said Fares. “Here is a tease. It is a BRAND NEW IP called S*** ******N. Can’t wait to show it soon🔥”
Among the various guesses in his replies, it doesn’t line up but I quite like “Space Muffin”. Fares’ message was soon quoted by the Hazelight account, which posted a picture of a design document or script labelled “New IP” with a scribbled-over release date, and confirmed the game will again be published under the EA Originals label. This subsequently led to some chronic branter between EA and Hazelight, which I read so you don’t have to.
EA PR subsequently sent through a note saying “Hazelight Studios and EA Originals are teaming up again on an all-new co-op adventure and we can’t wait to share more with you soon!” That’s no great surprise: Hazelight has since inception focused on co-op experiences and, so far, hasn’t put a foot wrong.
