Bionic Commando Bombs At Retail

When your inexpensive 2D remake sells 130,000 in its first week, surely you’re confident that the 3D retail sequel sells just as well, if not better, right? Well, Capcom and GRIN must be licking their wounds today as it has been confirmed that Bionic Commando sold just 27,000 copies in the US in its first week (across all formats). Swedish developers GRIN, behind both releases mentioned above and, more recently, Terminal Salvation, has apparently laid off a considerable number of staff in recent weeks.

Whilst we don’t know the split between the PS3 and 360 versions of Bionic Commando, it doesn’t really matter – at 27,000 sold this is a disaster for Capcom normally used to enjoying the sales figures of popular franchise titles like Resident Evil. More troubling is where this leaves GRIN.  We’ve not played Bionic Commando (a story seemingly true of most of our readers too, going off those kinds of figures) but it appeared to have considerable potential, despite quietly flopping onto a AAA-filled retail shelf when it launched back in May.