Vermintide 2 Outsells the First Game in Just Two Weeks

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 was released a few weeks ago, and if you haven’t played it, just think back on Left 4 Dead, replace the zombies with angry barbarians and smelly rat people, and the guns with bows and swords, and you’ve pretty much enjoyed the authentic Vermintide 2 experience. That said, Left 4 Dead was a smash hit for a reason, and now it’s looking as if Vermintide 2 will follow the same trajectory, as, according to the chief executive of developer Fatshark, Martin Wahlund, in the two weeks Vermintide 2 has been out, it’s already made more money than the first Verminitide ever made in its entire lifetime.

And that’s just on the PC.

As for why it did so much better, he has a few ideas:

"If you do a follow-up to a game that was quite successful, which the first one was, you have the old audience, who come back and vouch for it, which gives you a headstart. So word of mouth spreads. It’s also a much better game. We learnt a lot about giving people something to strive for. We have a different system by which players can get stuff. The core of the game is just better."

It takes a lot of courage to admit that your earlier games weren’t all that they could be. Slightly less courage when you do so in the context of your current game being better, but we all have to channel our inner Peter Molyneux from time to time, right lads? Either way, it’s undeniable that they’ve got themselves a smash hit on their hands, and when the game officially reaches consoles (or gets mod support) I suspect it’ll become even more popular.

But still. Two weeks to beat a lifetime of sales. That’s a lot of dead rats.