Despite a stable of incredibly popular games, Valve’s Doug Lombardi says that it’s Gordon Freeman’s second outing that rules the roost.
The likes of Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2 might be incredibly popular and loved by players and critics alike, but none of them is Valve’s most successful game. That particular crown is worn by 2004’s Half-Life 2, and VP of marketing Doug Lombardi says that every game that Valve has released since then has been compared to it.
Lombardi said that the launch for Half Life 2 was “huge,” and that the game sold around six million copies in the first year. He said that Valve had been chasing the game’s success for years, but he thought that Portal 2 could potentially be similarly successful, especially considering the game was coming out on four platforms simultaneously – PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360.
Lombardi also said that Valve didn’t feel the need to market for each platform individually, as most gaming websites were multi-platform and television spots were platform agnostic. He used Left 4 Dead 2 as an example and said that of the $25 million spent on marketing the game, at least $23 million was spent on promoting just the brand and the game, without any attention paid to highlighting the specific platform.
With Half-Life 2’s lifetime sales standing at over 13 million copies, Portal 2 has a tough act to follow when it comes out next year, but I don’t think anyone would be willing to count it out just yet.
Source: Industry Gamers
