Sometimes, it’s worth revisiting an existing AAA game with a new pair of cybernetic eyes. Far Cry 3’s jungle-themed action was a big success for Ubisoft, and one that few expected after the mostly uninspiring Far Cry 2. The unique tone, bombastic gameplay, and sense of exploration pushed the holiday release over the edge, but one of the most creative portions of the project came via the Blood Dragon DLC. The irregular $15 spinoff content delivered a few laughs to an otherwise serious affair, and according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the mix of humor and futuristic firepower did quite well for the company.
We’d heard a bit about the success of Blood Dragon not long after its release, but Guillemot let GameIndustry International know in a recent interview that the DLC broke the 500,000 downloads mark since May. For a project built in about six months working off an existing engine, that’s a pretty spectacular return on investment. The warm reception to the colorful adventure also helped push the core Far Cry 3 package, with PC sales seeing the greatest increase in sales.
But Blood Dragon wasn’t the only success story in May. To most peoples’ surprise, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger turned out to be an enjoyable $15 experience, and one that the company is “very happy” with in terms of revenue. That’s two unique pieces of content from Ubisoft finding success, which likely means that we’ll be seeing more bizarre takes on established franchises in the future. Assassin’s Creed Racing, anyone?