There are no extended noses here: acclaimed Souls-like Lies of P’s sales have topped one million units worldwide, a little under a month after the title’s debut. It’s important to underline that this figure only includes copies sold, and is not bundling in Xbox Game Pass downloads. As such, it’s a pretty impressive achievement for a new, relatively unknown developer.
Neowiz co-CEO Seungchul Kim admitted as much in a statement: “This incredible milestone for Lies of P proves the potential of Korean console games on the global stage. The Lies of P project was a challenging endeavor for Neowiz and Round8 Studio and we take great pride in what we achieved with this title.”
The game’s director, Jiwon Choi, was understandably chuffed, too: “The reception has been incredible so far, and we are beyond thankful that over one million players have already embarked on their journey through Krat. Likewise, we are excited for what the future holds for Lies of P, and can’t wait to share more when the time is right.”
To be fair, the game thoroughly deserves its success, as we described it as a “first-class experience” in our Lies of P PS5 review: “Lies of P feels like the result of a developer having already taken multiple stabs at the Souls-like genre, so it's impressive that Round8 Studio has accomplished so much on its first attempt.”
Comments 27
Soulslikes are killing it this year: wo long, lies of p, lords of the fallen. Wo long = sekiro, lies of p = bloodborne, lords of the fallen = dark souls. There is something for everyone.
I am glad I finished it even if it gave me more frustration than any of the FromSoft games in terms of difficulty
Really, really good game!
They've earned it. Such a well made game. Technically brilliant too.
@Powerplay94 I think they will more than reap the rewards with DLC. It is a simply stunning game as an fyi to any that haven't had the pleasure. Stunning. I think PS underplayed it and tbh I think its was just too 'hard' for the Eurogamer reviewer .
Treat yourself. Give it a whirl. Wonderful experience.
Powerplay94 wrote:
The interesting question is: Would it have sold so well elsewhere if it WASN'T on a subscription service, as it would have less total people trying it and less recommending it?
Mid budget games like this, that don't have the marketing budget of AAAs, can use these services as a form of advertising and marketing, giving them a lot more column inches and mindshare which then leads to more players and more recommendations.
While we will never know for certain, we can't turn back the clock and try both strategies, it is still a valid business strategy and guarantees some decent money even if the game flops.
@TrickyDicky99 Yes sales are across all platforms.
@Powerplay94 Why would they? It's just more money on top of their sales.
I'm surprised it hasn't sold more to be honest considering it's positive reception. Still, I'm happy it's doing well enough and I'm excited for the future of the series.
It’s an awesome game, thoroughly enjoying it so far. The combat is polished and tactical, the story is great, and the environments are a (creepy) joy to explore. Very happy for this dev, and for me, bc I’m enjoying it so much!
@zimbogamer Lies of P = Bloodborne X Sekiro! Deflecting and the legion arm is VERY Sekiro, while the whole vibe and sort-of the weapon building is VERY Bloodborne. Anyways, fantastic game no matter how you look at it. A great year for us Souls-heads, indeed!
Nail on the head, @themightyant! Word of mouth is essential for any AA title, and so having it release on the Game Pass would have generated much more of that. People trying the game on the Service, and then talking about their experience online, means more people become aware of the game, and then those that do not have access to Game Pass, buy the game instead.
Yes, the game would have sold fewer copies on the Xbox than it otherwise would, @Powerplay94, but very likely sold much better elsewhere because of it having been on the Game Pass. A definite win for the Souls community. Very happy for the Developer...
@Fiendish-Beaver Indeed. Mindshare matters. It's one, of many, reasons why subscription services will pay FAR less per estimated sale that is 'lost' when negotiating a deal. As they are giving you 'free' advertising and creating new sales elsewhere, as well as cash, and eliminating some risk.
It's also why so many F2P games are trying to get on these services and get a massive boost of players and discussion. Like Rocket League or Fall Guys did on PS+, it can make or break a game.
It's also why you can't look at the number of 'players' in a subscription game and equate that to players based on hard sales, it's not apples to apples.
Cool lies of p is a excellent game.word up son
@Cloud39472 was thinking the same.
Neowiz has been around for a while after all, and the game's reception has been absolutely terrific.
But if they've put the post out themselves they must be proud of the number.
@Loamy oh man... you must be early still. The bosses become insanely difficult. Luckily there is a built-in "cheese" feature if you get stuck for more than two hours like I did on some bosses
The production value of the game is incredible. It makes me wonder how bigger more experienced developers botch releases so often. I have had a silky smooth experience ... even though some of the bosses seem designed by entering into chatgpt "create a boss like bloodborne, but make it harder".
Big fan of Souls likes, but Lies of P looks unimpressive to me. Maybe it's the Layout as the combat looks decent and the reviews are great. It's just everytime I watch a video I'm not itching to buy it. Lord's of the Fallen on the other hand will be my next pick-up. I love Souls games that you get lost in and then suddenly you open a door and your back at the bonfire. I'll play Lies of P on a deep sale or psplus.
@Elodin Having played and beaten both, I would definitely recommend waiting on Lords of the Fallen as well (I absolutely adore Lies of P, but if you're not feeling it you're not feeling it)
The performance is absolutely abysmal and really needs a patch or two. On console, before I played through the game on PC, the textures were so low poly they looked like PS3 graphics. Not even kidding, and it still isn't really fixed. I bought the game on Xbox, and luckily was able to get a refund, but on PS you will not get a refund.
Also, Lords of the Fallen is not one of those souls games where you get lost in and wind up at a bonfire. It's just one of those games where you get lost, it's a "where the **** do I go?" kinda game. You spend most of each level trying to find a key to open a door, so you can fight a really mediocre boss, and then touch a beam of light, so you can figure out how to do that same thing 5 more times.
The review on this site says that the Umbral Realm mechanic elevates the game. I very much disagree. It just adds really bad pre-Elden Ring platforming with endlessly respawning enemies, of which there is no variety at all after a few hours in. It's admittedly pretty neat that you transition between realms "seamlessly" (if you don't count the hitching that happens when the game decides it wants to spawn a bunch of zombies).
This game is charging AAA price for a game that's nowhere close to being AAA. I'd even go as far as to say this game sucks. The visuals on PC, and the overall aesthetic kept me playing until the end, but I'm not gonna play this game again until patches or mods. It was rough even on my 4070TI rig.
@Saltborne I didn't really have too much trouble with most of the bosses. There were only three in the game that gave me a really hard time.
Andreas, The Rabbit Brothers, and the final boss (That is Melania or Sword Saint Isshin levels of difficult).
I had more trouble with the clown robot before the manor than most of the bosses. F*** that stupid thing forever.
I do think Motivity is underpowered by a bit though. I went through everything bonking my way through the game, but the final boss I caved and switched to Techinque and Korean sworded my way to victory.
This isnt the 1990s 1 million units is a commercial failure now with the amount games cost to make
@Constable_What thanks for the heads up. Think ill wait for a sale then maybe pick up Spiderman 2 instead.
@Constable_What Dude that stupid clown in front of the manor drove me crazy. I think the games biggest flaw is the importance of the perfect parry, with such a tight window. dozens of hours in and I still don't have it down all the way. Still a great game. Have you used the cranks to change weapons to fit your motivity build?
@trev666 This is only true for higher-end AAA games. At $60, that's over $60 million, plus the $50 million + I'm sure Xbox gave them. Control was made for $30 million, and I assume this was close to that. The cost of labor in American studios makes games much more expensive to make as well.
@Saltborne Nah, I just went full on Technique for that beeg damage.
Perfect parry is tough, but there's a cool trick to make it easier. Equip the aegis shield, block with it, and then mash the parry button. It eats a lot of Legion off of it, but it's a guaranteed perfect parry.
I hope it wasn't a bug. I'd have actually have had to learn the perfect parry to beat the game if not for the Aegis shield.
@Elodin You're welcome! Spiderman is gonna be good, no doubt about it. I'm not even all that hyped for it, but I'm still getting it day one. It's just a safe bet for a great and fun game.
@Constable_What thanks for the aegis shield tip. I'm only at the Puppet King but will keep this in mind for future bosses
@trev666 no it's not. Not if you have no idea what its budget was or if it's just come out and it has years to earn even more through sales. It's a spectacular result for a new IP that hasn't even received a price cut yet.
@steizgr8 No problem! It still works too, so it's safe to say it's a feature! Just make sure after Aegis lets loose its explosion you press L2 again to bring the shield back up, and then start mashing L1 to parry. It's kinda painful for my fingers, but it's a useful tool to make boss fights go a LOT smoother, and I'm all about that gamer claw anyway.
Cheers!
Well deserved! I've been loving this game; almost done with my NG+ playthrough. Very much looking forward to DLC or a sequel down the line.
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