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Scribblenauts franchise draws $100 million

By Jonathan Downin

5th Cell CEO Jeremiah Slaczka says indie studios have shot at posting "big numbers"; reveals a new iOS game is coming soon.

Scribblenauts hit the Nintendo DS in late 2009, delivering a game that called upon a player's creativity to solve puzzles, and a sequel dropped last year. The first game sold more than 1 million units in less than six months, and 5th Cell CEO and creative director Jeremiah Slaczka has now revealed that the series has crossed a notable financial milestone.

Doesn't matter who you are: A bazooka-wielding elephant is a $100 million idea.

Doesn't matter who you are: A bazooka-wielding elephant is a $100 million idea.

Speaking with Game Informer, Slaczka divulged that the Scribblenauts franchise has garnered the company close to $100 million to date in gross revenue. The statement came as Slaczka reacted to a question regarding the studio's independence.

"If you would have said $50 million, I would have easily said no, but wow…$500 million is a lot of money," he said. "5th Cell isn't currently worth $500 million, so it would be crazy for a publisher or anyone to offer something like that for us. It doesn't mean we won't be worth that in the future. One big original IP success and boom, there ya go! We've had multiple IP successes. The Scribblenauts franchise alone has generated close to $100,000,000 in gross revenue, so down the line, it's totally possible for a company like us to do really big numbers."

Slaczka spoke to the success of the Scribblenauts series, saying marketing and reviews played second seat to the ability of the games to capitalize on social factors. "Game sales are mainly dependent on one thing: word of mouth. This is true for all products; friends influence each other more than anything else," said Slaczka.

The developer is currently working on the 2012-bound third-person futuristic shooter Hybrid for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade. 5th Cell's $100 million franchise hit the iOS last month with Scribblenauts Remix, and Slaczka also revealed that the studio's next title is a "completely new iOS game that is launching in the next month or so." The studio also develops the Drawn to Life series for THQ.

15 comments
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Spacerac
Spacerac

great job. great, great job.

Wormkid_64
Wormkid_64

BTW, I should be clear,when I said "3D" before,I meant a game that still has the 2D hand drawn look,but with 3D like a pop up book would have,or Paper Mario 3D.

Wormkid_64
Wormkid_64

@the9thinning Mega beastly. Much like Cthulu. Or Kraken. Or Joker. Or Darth Vader. Or a Keonosiegg supercar. I'd be as pumped for a new Scribblenauts game as I would for almost anything involving the above mentioned things. :)

maxwellsdemon13
maxwellsdemon13

Love to see unique games succeed, no matter the platform.

Hvac0120
Hvac0120

I bought Scribblenauts Remix for iOS and thought it was a great concept and the start menu was were I had the most fun. However, there is a sever lack of levels and the challenges didn't get very involved as you progressed. There were 40 challenges in Remix and I've heard the DS versions have somewhere around 200, so I suppose for the price it was comparable. They had a $.99 sale not too long ago and it would certainly be worth that. I'll look forward to see what else they bring to the table.

SicklySunStorm
SicklySunStorm

This game could really go places if blown up into HD into the bigger formats. I loved the first two and am yet to download the iPod version of it.

Wormkid_64
Wormkid_64

This game is total beast. Nothing like summoning a giant green baby with a top hat and riding him around while blasting everything in sight with a shrink ray. Now you know what would rock? A Scribblenauts with a more robust content creator,3D,and an online multiplayer sandbox,along with multiplayer puzzles too. It could have mic support so you could talk with your friends and everything. That would be mega beastly.

Mega_Skrull
Mega_Skrull

Good news I guess. Now I wish they made Scribblenauts for more platforms, as many as possible so everyone can enjoy the ultimate sandbox. Just make it bigger, better and in 3D

PoindeJ
PoindeJ

Scribblenauts for Wii U using the tablet controller. 3D polygonal models instead of 2D sprites. Calling it right now.

flashn00b
flashn00b

Now if only there was a Chrome and Android version of Scribblenauts,

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