It Takes Two has reached a new milestone three years after its launch. The co-op action adventure platformer has now sold over 16 million copies globally.
Hazelight Studios shared the news on social media, celebrating It Takes Two’s third anniversary. It also noted that the game has been played by over 30 million users since its release on March 26, 2021. This includes those who played via friend invitations or subscription services.
The studio thanked the fans, finishing its post with “what a way to start off a very exciting year.” This could be a hint at a possible announcement of the team’s next game (but who knows, right?).
Hazelight founder Josef Fares also reacted to the news, simply saying “Insane!”
Today is not only the three year anniversary for #ItTakesTwo…
The game has now sold over 16 MILLION units!!! 🤯
Mind-blowing that over 30 million fans have now played it, love you all so much ❤️What a way to start off a very exciting year… 👀 pic.twitter.com/nQCnDQTQa0
— Hazelight Studios (@HazelightGames) March 26, 2024
It is unclear how sales of It Takes Two are split across platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch), but here are the key milestones in the game’s lifecycle:
- 1 million copies — April 2021;
- 2 million copies — June 2021;
- 3 million copies — October 2021;
- 5 million copies — February 2022;
- 10 million copies — February 2023;
- 16 million copies — March 2024.
This makes It Takes Two the best-selling game in the career of Josef Fares, who also directed A Way Out and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (as part of Starbreeze Studios). The former sold over 3.5 million units globally (as of January 2021), while Brothers surpassed 800k copies sold (as of January 2015).
After founding Hazelight Studios, Fares faced financial problems, even thinking about selling his stake at the company. “If the game hadn’t succeeded and sold well I’d end up on the streets with all the debts I’d racked up,” he recalled, adding that “I started directing a bunch of commercials so I could earn some money and pay the salaries.”
Fortunately, both A Way Out and It Takes Two were funded by Electronic Arts through its EA Originals program. The latter also won multiple awards, including the GotY at The Game Awards 2021.
There is still barely any information about Hazelight’s next game, so it is unclear what setting or genre Fares and the team will choose for its new project.