Portal 2 has topped the 3 million mark in sales, says Valve’s Gabe Newell. The Valve co-founder dropped the figure in an address to the Games for Change conference. Speaking to Games for Learning Institute members, Newell pointed out that the game's commercial success proves that the boundary between educational games and commercially successful ones is an industry myth. But Portal 2’s profitability is just the beginning for Valve. According to Newell, Valve is working with educators to develop a classroom curriculum based around the game.
Newell name checked the New York Times review of Portal 2, which humbly suggested that the game could sit alongside the writings of Newton and Einstein in communicating the beauty of physics to students – a challenge Valve wants to meet in future efforts to utilize the title's educational potential. The company will work with educators to teach students about creativity and physics via the game's puzzles and Hammer level-editing tools.
Above: You can eat your cake and have it too. Games can be profitable and educational, says Newell
Sales-wise, Valve's notorious privacy with figures means “3 million units shifted since April” is probably as specific a statistic as you're likely to get for a while. The title broke the top spot in UK sales charts on its week of release – a first for Valve – but battled Mortal Kombat for the top of the US charts throughout its release month. So, yes, one of the cleverest and most mentally-engaging titles ever did manage to sell like gangbusters... but then, it also trailed behind one of the year's most gleefully non-enriching releases. Feel free to concoct a glass-half-full scenario depending on your title of preference.
Jun 22, 2011
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