Batman: Arkham City’s Detailed Sales Figures Revealed

I suspect that virtually any comic book fan who has been near a game console and/or capable gaming PC at any time since August 25th, 2009 will be able to articulate exactly why the Batman: Arkham franchise deserves all the praise it has gotten over the course of its four games. Yes, I do mean four games; let’s not forget about Arkham Origins, the title that’s been unofficially (and undeservedly, in my opinion) designated the “runt” of the Arkham litter. The reason I’ve elected to bring up the Batman: Arkham series today is that some particularly noteworthy sales figures for the second game in this quartet, Arkham City, were recently posted on Twitter for all to see. According to a Tweet from a user who goes by the handle “bogorad222,” the game managed to shift twelve and a half million units and earn an estimated $600 million in revenue.

This information, in turn, appears to originate from the LinkedIn profile of one Michael Elkind. Elkind was the Global Franchise Marketing Manager for Warner Bros. Entertainment when Arkham City’s most recent sales numbers were reported all the way back in February of 2012. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know the first thing about video game sales numbers.

I couldn’t tell you why it’s been so long since an updated account of the game’s profitability has been published or reported upon, or if such reports are even meant to be made public in the first place. However, I’ve got something of a hunch that thanks to such things as Steam sales, Arkham City has probably shifted quite a few more units and made several truckloads more money in the past eight and a half years. Heck, I’m reasonably certain the same can be said for the three additional games in the series as well, given each game’s popularity.

I bring up the prospect of Steam sales because during every single one of the sales since Arkham Knight was re-released on the platform a few years ago, no less than three-quarters of the franchise has been consistently discounted to paltry asking prices. That’s also typically true for each game’s DLC, which I’m sure has only served to add to the goodwill toward the franchise. As far as I’m concerned, the only question that remains is whether the series’ popularity will ultimately culminate in another game under the Arkham banner. The massive comic book nerd in me dearly hopes that eventually ends up being the case, and my gut tells me this hope might not be entirely misplaced.