frictional-games posts

Developer Frictional Games has been more than open on the sales of its acclaimed horror adventure game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Today in a new blog post the developer revealed that sales of the game since its release last September have now gone over the 200,000 unit mark.

While over half of those units sold have been made via discounted prices like sales on Steam and other outlets, the blog post states, "we are in incredible good financial situation right now." The development team also thinking about sticking to the PC platform, perhaps exclusively, saying, "Based on what we have seen, the online PC market is just getting bigger and bigger, and we are convinced we are far from the end of this growth."

The blog post also hints about Frictional's next game, saying, "We aim to use the emotions that Amnesia was able to provoke and to focus them in a different direction, which will hopefully give delightfully disturbing results.." Because of their current financial stability the dev team may take some risks with its next title, saying, "While we of course do not aim to go crazy, it means that we can try out new things without risk of going bankrupt."

Amnesia: The Dark Descent has become one of the most acclaimed indie-made PC game of 2010, Frictional Games' first person horror adventure title has also been scaring up lots of sales as well for the small development studio. For the rest of the weekend, Steam is making the game easier to buy for those of you who have yet to try it out.

From now until early Monday, the game is Steam's weekend sales pick with its price reduced down to $9.99, a 50 percent cut from its normal price. Frictional Games is already working on its next title and its blog site has been revealing the progress it is making with its new game engine.

Last time we reported on Frictional Games' Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the horror adventure game had been released but despite solid reviews the development team was worried that sales of the game were not as high as they had hoped. In a more recent post on the game's official blog site things are a bit more upbeat.

In short, the game has sold 36,000 units (excluding boxed copy sales from Russia) a month after its release. Frictional Games' goal was to sell 24,000 units and the blog post states, "Having met and exceeded that goal already feels quite nice. Frictional Games will live to create another game!." Things are not all wine and roses. though. The developer's next game is expected to take at least two years to complete for the five man team. The blog post states, "As this will be our first project where we know from the start that we can finance it ourselves, it will be very interesting to see what can be done. In all our previous games, we have mostly rushed through the production. This is will be the first time we can take our time and make sure that all is the way we want it to."

Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Windows] (156 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Mac] (185 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Linux] (155 MB)

An updated Windows demo and patch is for Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a survival horror action adventure game developed by the same studio that created the Penumbra series. The update includes a list of specific bug fixes. Full patch notes and system requirements are shown after the jump. Our review of the game can be found here.

"The last remaining memories fade away into darkness. Your mind is a mess and only a feeling of being hunted remains. You must escape. Awake... Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a first person survival horror. A game about immersion, discovery and living through a nightmare. An experience that will chill you to the core."

Read the Amnesia: The Dark Descent Review
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent v1.0.1 Demo (157 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent v1.0.1 Patch (53 MB)
Check out all Amnesia: The Dark Descent downloads

The recent horror-themed first person adventure game Amnesia: The Dark Desecent got a great review here at Big Download. Now the developers of the title at Frictional Games have posted up a first week postmortem on the title that makes for some interesting reading.

In short the dev team seems to be happy with the reviews the game has received so far from both the media and regular players. However sales of the game seem to be a bit mixed. While they have not released specific numbers the post states, "At the time of writing, we are very close to our 'all is good'-goal, meaning that we are still in business." But it adds, "Around 50 (percent) of our current earnings where made in less than a week and on pre-orders from before release." The team doesn't seem to know why sales haven't been higher and are debating on several things it can do for its next game release to raise sales including releasing it for consoles.

Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Windows] (156 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Mac] (185 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Linux] (155 MB)

There are very few videogames that set us on edge through atmosphere rather than startles. Games like FEAR and Resident Evil can be scary, sure, but more because the game suddenly flings things at you rather than creating an oppressive, depressing, degrading setting. Developer Frictional Games tried to do so with Penumbra, and it didn't work out too well, despite Penumbra's status as a great game. Now comes Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and despite its generic-sounding title, it's quite possibly one of the most unique games we have ever played. It utilizes story tropes (such as the titular amnesia), physics-based gameplay, and a disturbing setting to great effect. It's quite possibly the only time we've ever been truly frightened by Lovecraftian fiction, and it serves as a good example of the polish indie developers can put into a game.

This is the demo for Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a survival horror action adventure game developed by the same studio that created the Penumbra series. The demo is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"The last remaining memories fade away into darkness. Your mind is a mess and only a feeling of being hunted remains. You must escape. Awake... Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a first person survival horror. A game about immersion, discovery and living through a nightmare. An experience that will chill you to the core."

Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Windows] (156 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Mac] (185 MB)
Download Amnesia: The Dark Descent Demo [Linux] (155 MB)
Check out all Amnesia: The Dark Descent downloads

Frictional Games is best known for the indie darling series Penumbra, but they've been hard at work on a new game. Releasing in just little over a week, Amnesia: The Dark Descent follows an amnesiac who wakes up in a castle with no knowledge save for his name. As the game is quite close to launch, Frictional has released a new trailer showing off a chase scene between Daniel and an unknown force. predictably, he loses in the end. It's interesting to note that this is in-game footage, and as expected, bears a striking resemblance to the excellent Penumbra series. The minor touches, such as the heavy breathing and the splash of water after each pound, make it quite intriguing!

Download HD Amnesia: The Dark Descent Trailer (55 MB)

Last week we posted up an interview with developer Frictional Games' Thomas Grip as he talked about their upcoming horror-themed adventure game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Today the developer announced that the game now has a firm release date of September 8 from the team behind the cult hit Penumbra series.

The company has been taking pre-orders for the game for some time. While the normal price of Amnesia is going to be $20 you can save $2 (about 10 percent) by pre-ordering the game directly from Frictional Games' web site. The title will be available in Windows, Mac and even Linux flavors.

Developer Frictional Games has got a solid cult following for its first game projects, namely the Penumbra series of horror-themed adventure games. Now the company is working on its next title, a historical adventure-horror game titled Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It promises to scare people not only visually but inside their heads as well.

So how will Amnesia differ from the games in the Penubra series? Big Download got the answer to that question and many others via a new interview with Frictional Games' co-founder Thomas Grip. He also tells us why they made the game on their own graphics engine and more.