Atomfall, the action-survival game from Rebellion Developments, launched on PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms last month. It also released on Game Pass on day one and has since reached over two million players. Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley has said that launching Atomfall on Microsoft’s game subscription service has been a “huge success” for the independent studio.
Atomfall’s Game Pass Launch a ‘Huge Success’
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz published Wednesday, Kingsley reflected on Atomfall’s launch strategy and said that Xbox Game Pass helped the new IP reach a wider audience.
“It’s been a huge success,” Kingsley told the publication. “Microsoft has been a fantastic partner to work with, they’ve really leaned in to helping us. They brought their skills and their scale to bear on our small project, and it’s done really, really well for them, so they got a good deal, we got a good deal out of it as well.”
Launching on Game Pass helped the discoverability of Atomfall, Kingsley said, adding that it was one of the biggest challenges for the studio. According to him, players were likely to try out a new IP on the service, with word-of-mouth praise attracting a wider audience.
“With Game Pass, you can get people to try it, then as a result of those people trying it, they like it, and they then tell their mates on social media, ‘I found this game on Game Pass, I really enjoyed it, you should have a go.’ And then some of them are on Game Pass, and will [play] it. But some of them aren’t on Game Pass, and will also want to be part of that conversation. So, they’ll go and buy it,” he said.
Rebellion confirmed last week that Atomfall had reached over two million players. The number isn’t indicative of unit sales as it includes Game Pass subscribers who accessed the game free of cost. Kingsley, however, said that the game’s sales had surpassed the studio’s expectations. “We’ve done a lot better than our mid-range estimates, actually, so that’s nice,” he said.
Launching on Game Pass also guarantees a fixed monetary return that helped Rebellion reach profitability with Atomfall. Kingsley said that while a release on the subscription service could undercut sales on Xbox, but the gain from that cost was “disproportionate”.
The Rebellion CEO also suggested the studio, known for its Sniper Elite games, might work on an Atomfall sequel. “Now it looks like we want to do more Atomfall – it’s been successful, can we find the resources to do it? I don’t know,” he said.
Atomfall launched across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X on March 27. The survival title, that has drawn comparisons with Fallout, is set in a post-apocalyptic north England and is inspired by the real life Windscale nuclear incident in the 1950s. Days after the launch, Rebellion confirmed the game had reached over 1.5 million players in its opening weekend, making it the most successful launch in the company’s 32-year history.
