Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has officially become a massive success for Warhorse Studios, with the developer announcing during a recent community stream that its medieval RPG has now surpassed 6 million copies sold worldwide. This is undoubtedly a huge milestone for any single player RPG, but it looks even more impressive when you put these numbers next to the original. Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Given that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is now less than 17 months old, it has already doubled the sales of its predecessor in less time.
This is obviously great news for Warhorse and more than worth celebrating. Kingdom Come: Deliverance went from a gritty historical RPG experiment to a franchise with some serious commercial heft. Still, there is a big catch in any such franchise because Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2The success also means that Warhorse is entering a completely different future than the one it had after the original game.
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Kingdom Come has become too big to stay small
original Kingdom Come: Deliverance was successful, but always felt like an underdog compared to all the other major open-world RPG series. It was a grounded medieval RPG with no dragons, no magic, no fantasy races, and no desire to make its world more accessible or simpler than Warhorse felt it needed to be. Even though it became popular, it still felt like a game that succeeded mainly because of how vastly different it was from everything else around it.
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Guess the emoji games.
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Of course, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 she turned it around for the franchise, and rather quickly. First Kingdom Come: Deliverance sold 2 million copies in just one year, reached 3 million after more than two years, and needed roughly 6 years to reach 6 million. KCD2on the other hand, it reached the same sales milestone in less than a third of that time, showing that Warhorse is no longer a niche curiosity.
original Kingdom Come: Deliverance was successful, but always felt like an underdog compared to all the other major open-world RPG series.
But that's where the good news starts to get a little complicated. Essentially, Kingdom Come is now big enough to generate even more anticipation. With that undoubtedly comes bigger budgets and more pressure on the studio as well, a somewhat bittersweet reality for any game developer. If Kingdom Come: Deliverance was more of a sketchy outsider, it can't stay that way anymore because its sequel has now decided what it will become – and Warhorse really has no choice but to ride that wave.
However, this does not mean that the developer should deal with every idea that he is tempted to implement. More successful Kingdom Come it might mean a bigger map, a more cinematic story, a wider audience, and perhaps more than anything else, a much more accessible experience than even Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 he tried to be. Some of that growth would be natural, sure and KCD2 has already proven that Warhorse can build on the formula of the original game without losing its soul. But the danger would be going too far in that direction.
One of the reasons Kingdom Come is such a great franchise because it's stubborn. She forces players to play by her rules and live with the consequences of their decisions. However, the more popular the series becomes, the harder it can be to maintain the rougher edges that give the IP its distinct identity.
KCD26 million sales doesn't mean that Warhorse has to make the next game a blockbuster fantasy RPG, as one could argue that the studio now has permission to believe in the formula they've already established in two games. The catch is that more success often brings increased pressure to become friendlier, and Kingdom ComeThe biggest strength has always been how unwelcoming it actually is. As such, Warhorse will have to figure out a way to maintain that quality while it heads headlong into a more glorious future.
The future of Warhorse is bigger than Kingdom Come Now
It's also worth noting that the timing of this sales milestone makes the situation even more interesting. Warhorse is now working on more Kingdom Come adventure and open-world RPG set in Middle-earth, the developer has more on its plate now than ever, but that's only half the battle. Now that she's working on one of the most iconic IPs in history – and one that will naturally defy their iconic design philosophy in many ways – she has to ask herself if she wants to be big because she can be now, or if she'd rather stay committed to the single lane road she's been on. Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
The catch is that more success often brings increased pressure to become friendlier, and Kingdom ComeThe biggest strength has always been how unwelcoming it actually is.
Some would impulsively call this a “sell-out” moment for Warhorse, as it might immediately seem like the developer has essentially surrendered to a franchise that already has its own rules and boundaries. It can be hard for a studio to stay true to itself within Middle-earth, and that could be where that interest really begins. Warhorse is now successful enough to be trusted with something as massive as an open world lord of the rings game, but that also means it's successful enough to pull away from the one thing that made it so interesting. Kingdom Come it may be a lot bigger now than it was in 2018, but it's still a weirder, harder, and less universally marketable franchise than Middle-earth will ever be.
That's the annoying part KCD2success. Warhorse has proven itself Kingdom Come can sell, but it also shows that the studio itself may be valuable enough to join something more recognizable. It makes perfect business sense. lord of the rings is easily one of the safest fantasy brands in the world for game development Kingdom Come is still a story-based RPG that refuses to give players the kind of power fantasy many of them expect from other open-world RPGs.
so yes KCD26 million sales is great news for Warhorse, but it could be argued that it also marks the moment when the studio becomes too big to belong Kingdom Come. Warhorse has earned the right to chase something bigger, but its biggest challenge now is making sure that success doesn't turn its most iconic franchise into something it's working on, among safer, universally adored opportunities.
- Released
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Adults 17+ / Use of alcohol, blood and gore, sexual content, strong language, intense violence, partial nudity
- Developers
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Warhorse Studios
