Paradox: Magicka Nearing 800K Sales

Arrowhead Games' Magicka has come a long way since selling 30,000 digital downloads on its first day of availability in January, with sales now approaching 800,000 copies. The new mark comes courtesy of Fredrik Wester, CEO of Magicka publisher Paradox Interactive, who told Joystiq that consistent weekly sales of 5,000 to 7,000 copies will push the game past the 800K threshold in the next couple of weeks. The action-adventure title, which reached 200,000 sales back in February, is expected to pass 1 million sales by the end of the year, Wester said. Expansion pack Magicka: Vietnam has also "done a few hundred thousand [sales]" since its April release, according to Wester. Swedish specialty publisher Paradox has had great success focusing its sales efforts on PC digital distribution, with 90 percent of the company's sales reportedly coming from outside the retail channel. "We don’t really need retailers any more and that is a release because retailers have not been good for the industry," he said in a July interview. "They've not been good for the creative part of the industry, for finding new cool games." Wester told Gamasutra in April that Magicka's success has Paradox on track to grow revenues 65 to 70 percent for 2011, building on 50 percent growth in 2010.