Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon sells more than 500,000 copies, boosts sales of Far Cry 3

Ubisoft’s experimental game—Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon—seems to have been a great success for the company. The company’s CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed in an interview with GamesIndustry International that the game sold more than 500,000 copies since its release. This, in turn, helped boost the sales of the original Far Cry 3 which was released late last year.

Guillemot stated that he revealed these figures because he believes that the transparency will be more helpful to the games industry as a whole. “It gives all the industry better visibility on what’s happening,” Guillemot said. “And not just the industry, but all the supporters of the industry and the financial community, as well. So we need to have more information to help the industry continue to grow.”

Thanks to the success of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, the door has now been opened for developers to try crazier experiments with pre-existing IP. Developers have earlier been held back by big publishers who were unwilling to take risks with any experimental games, but the success of the over-the-top Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon proves that gamers want more over-the-top and experimental stuff.

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Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity? No… wait… wrong game…

The game is straight out insane. It goes with the early 80’s sci-fi aesthetics of making “the future” look bright and neon-lit. You play Sergeant Rex Colt (best name ever!), who is a Mark IV Cyber Commando. Your mission: get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world. The setting of the game is supposed to be the year 2007, where nuclear war has ravaged planet Earth.

According to the official description of the game, “Experience every cliché of a VHS era vision of a nuclear future, where cyborgs, blood dragons, mutants, and Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens, Navy Seals) collide.”

The download-only title uses the same engine as Far Cry 3, and it’s impressive how different it looks when compared to the original. Instead of dense jungles and pirates, we have neon-lit terrorist bases and giant dinosaur-esque Blood Dragons.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available on the PlayStation Store for the PS3, Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 and Steam for PC.