Saber Intercative CEO: Metacritic Scores No Longer Affect Game Sales

Embracer Group has recently presented a Q4 financial report in which the publisher boasted the sales of Saber Interactive's Evil Dead: The Game. Despite quite average reviews from critics, the game sold half a million copies in the first five days after its release.

Discussing the company's quarterly financial results, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch was asked what the studio thinks about the ratings for the co-op horror. Karch replied that Saber was "pleasantly surprised" by both Evil Dead's scores and sales as they turned out to be higher than the studio's expectations.

He went on to say that Metacritic's influence on sales is decreasing. The head of the studio believes that the days when the number of copies sold depended on the rating on the aggregator website are "long gone". Karch noted that games are currently "sold by social media, sold by influencers, they're sold by buzz". However, he does not deny that sales are also affected by the quality of the product itself.

"I can name numerous titles to you that have scored the 'eights and the 'nines' that publishers or developers wish they never released because it's nice to put a plaque on your wall. But if you can't buy the nail to hang the plaque on, then what's the point of having the plaque in the first place?" the CEO said.

Karch also noted that regular releases have a hard time keeping up with blockbusters like Elden Ring, although he emphasized that there are always different ways to monetize. According to him, games these days are sold in the long term, so it is wrong to judge the success of the title in the first month of sales. He also added that the audience is ready to return to already released games if the developers provide them with regular content.

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