thatgamecompany

Cross-posted from the U.S. PlayStation Blog on behalf of Jenova Chen.

Hello, PlayStation.Blog readers. It has been an exciting two weeks for us since we launched Journey on PlayStation Store. We see the personal connection between our work and the players, which is the most real and priceless reward for us. For that, we thank you so much for your support, for spending time and money to play our game and for spreading the word about Journey to your dear friends and family. Thanks to you, Journey has officially broken PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store sales records, surpassing all first and third-party games to become the fastest-selling game ever released in the SCEA region on the PlayStation Network.

After we released Flower in 2009, players sent hundreds of emails about their experience with the game. They varied from a nine-year-old girl to a 65-year-old man, from a marine serving duty overseas, to a soldier returning from Iraq. There were even stories about a mother’s memory of her two children in the wheat fields, a surreal butterfly fantasy from someone’s grandmother who passed away, and a young man who spoke about his brother who has Down syndrome. Those kinds of letters are what drive us at TGC to keep working.

And now, the reaction to Journey has been even more overwhelming. We have received more letters from fans in the two weeks since Journey’s launch than we did for Flower over the past three years!

We owe a lot to our fans. In fact, idea of forming the thatgamecompany team to create games with Sony Santa Monica originated from several dozen emails that players sent in after playing our first student game, Cloud, from our time at USC. It was the players who told us how moving the game was and how it is important that we keep making these types of games so that more people in the world will realize what video games can be, and can grow to love games through our work. To me, that was a life-changing moment. I knew making games was my life calling.

This art piece expresses our gratitude.

Lastly, a lot of you have seemed to really enjoy the music in the game, which was composed by Austin Wintory. And we’ve received a lot of requests to release the soundtrack of the game. Well, I’m happy to announce that the soundtrack will be hitting the PS Store and iTunes on April 10, and there will be a limited CD release in the near future as well.

Thanks, again, for all your support. We’ll see you online!

Comments

  1. David says

    Thank you for making such a wonderful gaming experience; one of the best I’ve ever had. The question of video games as art has now been answered loud and clear.

  2. Barrett Biggers says

    Thanks for making games that are not just walking around shooting people. These types of evocative and richly creative games help spur current and future generations to be more original and aesthetic in their endeavors. I believe games were intended to be a creative JOURNEY in the first place, so, Thank You!

  3. Barrett Biggers says

    Thanks for making games that are not just walking around shooting people. These types of evocative and richly creative games help spur current and future generations to be more original and aesthetic in their endeavors. I believe games were intended to be a creative JOURNEY in the first place. Thank You!

  6. christophe says

    Journey, when light and sound mingle with the aerial ballet of silk ribbons..

    thank you for those moment of peace you give us. continu to sharing thoses games . i’m honored to play your games tgc, thx you.

  7. Arnaud says

    The soundtrack will be made available? Thank tou, TGC, you’ve officially made my day!
    And I must support Lokno: that “heart in the snow” picture is worth a fullscreeen desktop picture 🙂

  8. Truman says

    No, thank YOU for the most incredible interactive audiovisual emotive experience I’ve ever had in my life. Like others said, this is pure art in videogame form. THe ending is just Sublime.

  10. Skarlette says

    So many games I’ve played, but none have touched me as deeply as this one. The artwork, the gameplay, the music, the music, it wraps you up in the simplest beauty I’ve ever experienced.

    I cannot wait for the music. It’s so emotive and expressive. Simply beautiful.

  11. Alison says

    This is so beautiful. Your games are so beautiful. You are so beautiful.
    Thank you, thanks you from the bottom of my heart, for creating such beautiful things and sharing them with all of us.

  13. Dillon says

    I couldn’t help but join the others here in thanking TGC for this awe-inspiring creation. Like it did for many others, Journey truly moved me in so many powerful ways. The sense of beauty and wonder made such a deep impression on my soul; which is more than I could ever ask for in playing a video game. I truly believe what you guys have created is a glimpse into the future of video gaming. Not only as a piece of entertainment was Journey so enthralling, but more so as an experience unlike any other I’ve had.

    Thank you so much for introducing me (and the friends and family I’ve recommended to play Journey) to such an evocative, spiritual, gratifying and personal adventure.

    Here’s to supporting what you are all out to do at TGC.

  14. John Clavis says

    I can’t thank you enough for this extraordinary experience. Everyone involved is to be congratulated. The thought and care and TALENT that went into every aspect of Journey is beyond description. It’s a film, it’s animation, it’s a game, it’s visual art and music and interactive art… and anyone on Earth can play it. This is a stunning achievement. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  17. Leon says

    TGC… Amazing work… Seriously… 1st game to make me cry. I had a debate in school which I lost because everyone thinks games only project violence and desensitise our kids.

    Finally a game that envokes your senses. Finally a game that uses the soundtrack rather than having it as an after thought. Finally a game which uses 2 buttons to let a story.

    Expansion? Please? 😀

    P.S. I dont think I can get the trophy where I have to wait a week… Have too play it once a day!

    X O X O

  18. Knochenherz says

    I just … well … I’m just lost of words …. this game is so wonderful, I really had tears in my eye the last half hour of the game. This game isn’t a game anymore, it’s pure art. The soundtrack is unbelievable, and I cant wait for it. I really, really hope that I can the limited cd in Europe too, because he is really so wonderfull. I just can’t wait, and I hope, hope so much that you will make more games like this one. It’s the best example, that games didn’t need the best graphic of the best engine in the best 3d. A game only needs two buttons and a story that can be telled without words…

  19. Stephen says

    I will immediately buy the soundtrack. It is so beautiful, it’s often the reason I play the game over and over again! I think I’ve taken the Journey over a dozen times now!

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