In October, the Swedish developer Hazelight Studios made a significant announcement. Their co-op game It Takes Two had achieved a remarkable milestone by selling 20 million copies. This isn't just any ordinary release; it was backed by publisher Electronic Arts' EA Originals label and went on to win Game of the Year at the 2021 Game Awards. Yet, the sales tally came as a surprise to many.

Unraveling the Success of It Takes Two

Game Overview

It Takes Two is a co-op platformer where a married couple on the verge of divorce find themselves magically trapped in a pair of dolls due to their daughter's tears. They must collaborate to overcome a series of obstacles. Upon release, it received positive reviews but quickly faded from mainstream games media. However, its sales figures now rival those of major AAA blockbusters. For instance, it's just shy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's sales tally and could potentially rank just outside the list of the 50 bestselling games of all time.This game's success is even more remarkable considering it reached this sales milestone more than three and a half years after its release. In its first seven months, it sold 3 million copies. It took another four months to reach 5 million. Five months later, it hit 7 million. By February 2023, it had sold 10 million copies, and in March 2024, it reached 16 million. There's a clear pattern: It Takes Two has been selling at a consistent rate of around half a million copies per month since its launch. In fact, its average sales rate has slightly increased in the seven months up to October 2024, averaging around 570,000 copies per month.

Marketing and Awards

What's interesting is that It Takes Two achieved these sales without significant marketing support. The initial marketing budget was low, and there has been no meaningful marketing spend for quite some time. However, winning the Game Awards had a global impact. It led to a substantial uptick in sales in all markets and prompted many streamers and influencers to pick up the game, further increasing its reach.Director Josef Fares accepting the Game of the Year award for It Takes Two at the 2021 Game Awards was a significant moment. This win not only boosted its popularity in the US but also had a global effect.

Global Appeal and Co-op Factor

It Takes Two has found a big audience not only in Western markets but also in Asia. In China, where it is not officially licensed for sale, it has achieved runaway success. Director Josef Fares claimed that almost half of the game's audience is in China, and it won Game of the Year at the Bilibili Game Awards. GamesIndustry.biz theorized that the game's accessible co-op gameplay, uncontroversial style, and divorce theme might have contributed to its success in a country with common multigenerational households and soaring divorce rates.Hazelight's brand of enforced co-op adventures, with split-screen games designed for two players, satisfies a broad appetite. There are many co-op games out there, but the kind of co-op play that It Takes Two offers is unique. It has a very impressive growth through word-of-mouth, which has also rubbed off on their other game A Way Out.There you have it: To sell 20 million copies of a game, identify a demand that large numbers of players have and that no one else is fulfilling, preferably with a multiplayer component for added virality. Ensure the game is globally palatable and can penetrate any market. It's not easy, but it can be surprisingly simple.