Ghostbusters spooks 1 million

Terminal Reality's movie-themed paranormal shooter reaches platinum milestone; budget pegged at $15-$20 million; third Ghostbusters film teased.

Terminal Reality was probably hoping for an alternate reality when it launched Ghostbusters: The Video Game last month. As reported by The NPD Group last week, game-industry retail sales in the US were down 31 percent in June, the steepest year-over-year drop yet in four months of consecutive decline. Within that weak overall climate, the Xbox 360 edition of Ghostbusters narrowly missed the top 10 best-seller chart--while the other version didn't even crack the top 20.

Slimer would be breaking out the booze regardless.

Rankings aside, Terminal Reality is hailing the game as a success. Speaking to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Terminal Reality said that Ghostbusters: The Video Game has sold 1 million units worldwide since its release on June 16. Besides the Xbox 360, the game was released for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, DS, and PC.

The Lewisville, Texas-based developer also noted that the Atari-published title spent three years in development, had a final budget of $15 million to $20 million, and up to 80 developers worked on the project at its height. Notably, the game featured the voice work of original Ghostbusters Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson, with Aykroyd and Ramis also contributing to the game's script.

"It took us years to build the physics into the game of how one of those proton beams might hit a wooden table and just cut it in half, with one-half actually falling away from the other--and then one of the characters could actually interact with the destroyed object," Terminal Reality cofounder and president Mark Randel told Star Telegram.

Randel also noted that the game's commercial success has apparently rekindled Hollywood interest in making a third Ghostbusters film.

"It is great to realize that if they are thinking of rebooting Ghostbusters, of handing off the torch from the old guard to the new for a new Ghostbusters, that the success of the game definitely had something to do with green-lighting that project," Randel stated. "And you can bet that if that movie were to come out, we’d just love to do another Ghostbusters game based on it."

For more on Ghostbusters: The Video Game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

73 Comments

  • hush404

    Posted Jul 23, 2009 4:48 pm PT

    Good for them, hope it continues to sell!

    I personally love it. It's rite at home with the GB feel and lure. Co-op would of been great, but w/e.

  • ssfire8

    Posted Jul 23, 2009 12:00 am PT

    cross the streams is so much fun i got the 360 version an the ghostbusters game really dam good!

  • raahsnavj

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 3:50 pm PT

    But can you cross the streams?

  • shentonio

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 3:01 pm PT

    I rented the game first before buying, as you never know with licenced games how they'll turn out. As a huge Ghostbusters fan, all I can say is congratulations to Terminal Reality for the great job they did with the game. This could have been a huge missed opportunity, and although it won't break records I am actually quite surprised it has done this well. If you're a fan, you can't help but have a huge grin on your face the first time you hear the theme song again (I got the PS3 version by the way). And multiplayer is also surprisingly good, and of course they got all the cast back! It can be difficult to find a game online sometimes (only 4 players at a time of course) but it is worth it everytime to be busting ghosts with the original crew! Ghostbusters!

  • link1709

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 2:51 pm PT

    This is fantastic news. I am a huge fan of Ghostbusters. My dream is to own the Ecto-1, take my future children to school in it. Then fly it to America and hand it over to the man who deserves it more than anyone. Mr Dan Aykroyd. I will buy the Ghostbusters 3 game and hope terminal reality continues with the fantastic work I had experienced with the Ghostbusters game. Well Done Guys. You deserve it!

  • MJR52

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 12:43 pm PT

    A third movie would be sick... if they do it correctly

  • kylemahler

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 11:55 am PT

    You can probably go through the story mode maybe 3 times and that's mostly to get the trophies on PS3. Go thrugh it on beginner or experienced, Beat the game on Pro, go through and have less then $100,000 of damage. The story mode it's self is kind of short, but the multplayer is a lot of fun to do and that's the thing that keeps you to it.

  • KyleMD03

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 11:37 am PT

    @bleedgreen2-1-5

    The replay factor is not so much there as it more comes into it's own in the multiplayer. If you don't want to drop 60 bones just wait a bit and find it after price cuts, or buy used. I really never thought I would have played the multiplayer but so many respected gamers said if I owned it I needed to at least give it one play online and they were right. Some DLC would be nice but I don't see much they could do other than maybe co-op story mode or map packs on multiplayer.

  • Jynxy425

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 11:08 am PT

    How about some TLC from Terminal Reality, with some DLC for us 1 Million game buyers !!!

  • Mr_Tweedy posted Jul 22, 2009 10:10 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Mr_Tweedy

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 10:10 am PT (hide)

    Buy The Conduit!

  • klugenbeel

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 9:42 am PT

    This is a game i wanted to pick up but haven't, yet. Glad to see it is doing well and hope they may do another GhostBusters movie would be great. Bill Murray is the man!

  • Garygok

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 9:20 am PT

    I think you can attribute these sales to people buying this game for nostalgic reasons alone, which is the reason I went and got it on release day. The game itself however wasnt that good and unless they improve on it significantly I wouldnt buy a sequel.

  • HyruleanLink

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 8:53 am PT

    Great success for a great movie.

  • wahyudil

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 8:39 am PT

    Wow! I can't wait to see the movie ... I really loves ghostbuster

  • rohail88 posted Jul 22, 2009 8:29 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    rohail88

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 8:29 am PT (hide)

    Man what a cheapass game!!

  • NuKkU

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 8:01 am PT

    really 1 mil i was expecting to succeed but not this much lol

  • QOSMSTR

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 7:27 am PT

    @bleedgreen2-1-5

    The replay value is great since you go back and get artifacts and scan ghosts, and professional difficulty is hard. I had to get a guide for strategy against bosses.

  • Ronin893

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 7:15 am PT

    I would love to see another Ghostbusters movie.

  • bleedgreen2-1-5

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 6:32 am PT

    i need to get this, im a ghostbusters fan and i played the demo, its luigis mansion but good. Its $60 tho, how good is the replay value? If anyone has an opinion let me know cuz i dont want to pay $60 for one play through

  • sun_rider95

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 6:29 am PT

    the game was so good

  • shawn7324

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 5:21 am PT

    Great game, I've enjoyed what I've played so far. I bet I've said they should have made this into a movie at least 5 times while playing.

  • Ian_Michael

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 4:52 am PT

    @ Humorguy_basic Ghostbusters had a much smaller budget than those games you mentioned, so selling a million copies to them was considered successfull given that the version of Ghostbusters would be considered a new IP.

  • dag-dabreemie

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 4:47 am PT

    I'm going into fits and craving for DLC and new sp missions for Ghostbusters!

  • Humorguy_basic

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 3:41 am PT

    My 12 thumbs down for saying a million sales is not a lot when you release on so many formats must mean gamers are happy for gaming to disappear,because if Fallout 3only sold a million there would not be a Fallout 4, if Bioshock had only sold a million there would be no Bioshock 2, EA stated that they were extremely disappointed with the sales of Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, and BOTH of those sold OVER one million units! So it seems to me gamers have a death wish!

  • ChidoriBoyU

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 3:15 am PT

    i only finished the first stage in the game i didn't find it so special but everyone says it's fun maybe i'll continue it

  • xraystar

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 1:35 am PT

    glad to hear! I've only played the demo, but was pleasantly surprised at how fun the game actually is! plus, seeing the original cast reprising their respective roles - it was like seeing old friends

  • thingta42 posted Jul 22, 2009 1:29 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    thingta42

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 1:29 am PT (hide)

    I would of got the Game now if it wasn't for God damn sony making it PS3 only in Europe.. That is why i Dont buy Sony Consoles.. Sony the Company is a cheap as ass..

  • KyleMD03

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 12:58 am PT

    My 4 year old son picked this game out and we played through the story together, and I found myself having so much fun with it that I was saying "Hang on, hang on, daddy just needs to do this, or that and then you can have the controller back" lol I did manage to get "The Destructor" trophy thanks to my son. The multiplayer was also a delight, and I have put Battlefield Bad Company on the shelf for a bit while I play the Ghostbusters multiplayer. In the aftermath of the original publisher going under and someone else taking the title, this came out very well in the end.

  • Ice_man_1985

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 12:53 am PT

    best fun ever.

  • getyeryayasout

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 12:42 am PT

    I'm enjoying the game and hope they will keep the original cast as the leads if they do a new movie.

  • Leria

    Posted Jul 22, 2009 12:04 am PT

    This game deserved to do so well. I recently got it, and I was SHOCKED at how fun the game was to play.... the only knocks I have on it is that after you finish the game, you cannot start a new game with all the upgrades unlocked and the right controller on the thing is locked into that older FPS style thing.

    You know, up = left, down = right, etc.
    If they hadn't have done that and it hadn't taken me awhile to get used to, I would give this game a 9 out of ten..... that drops it to an 8.5, but hopefully they will patch that problem or design flaw.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 11:53 pm PT

    I am glad the game is doing well

  • Petercairns

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 11:31 pm PT

    Kool i wouldnt mind seeing another moive!! HOW YA GONA CALL...???

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 10:01 pm PT

    Wonder if they make a movie if it will be CGI or live actors, and will they be like a replacement cerw to the old crew, or a reboot of the series from the beginning a la star trek.

  • GreenNinjaN

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 9:42 pm PT

    Sweet, they better make a movie. They made an excellent video game, another one based around a movie might just change the concept that "all movie based video games suck". One can only hope.

  • ISuPrEmAcY32I

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 9:25 pm PT

    well that's awesome. ghostbusters is a great older movie, and it is nice to see the game get some love so developers will continue to do things like that. I personally haven't picked it up but it's on my short list to buy. idk if i spend less money on games but i find myself buying more arcade games instead of full games what with the economy lol. i will be picking this up soon. thanks for bringing it to ys

  • cid_007

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 8:44 pm PT

    "Who ya gonna call...Ghostbusters!"

  • BatrozX

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 8:33 pm PT

    In a horrible economic crisis, is good to see fellow gamers unite with their love of the classic Ghostbusters to forget all troubles. Especially the reward of a possible third movie. Congrats to Atari and everyone who worked on this great game which makes an excellent tribute to the Ghostbusters.

  • monson21502

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 8:20 pm PT

    glad they sold a millon copies. pretty fun game. i liked the one on the sega genisis better though

  • dynomitemasta

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 7:53 pm PT

    I don't know what versions all of you got with all these flaws your talking about, but I got the 360 version and there was barely even a hiccup and since the PS3 version is identical to the 360 version I guess your talking about the Wii version which I wanted to get anyway because it just looks so much different. I'll probably get it either way.

  • marveladdict

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 7:15 pm PT

    I was perfectly okay with the game. The only things I hope they fix in a new game are the freezing and make the PS2 And Wii versions look like the PS3 and XBOX 360 versions. Because it is possible to not make them cartoons.

  • ZombieKingX

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:57 pm PT

    I concure, nice job guys and kudos to all those involved in making this great game!

  • deadcowboy6

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:46 pm PT

    I'm happy the game sold well and even more happy there might finally be a third movie. congrats guys

  • okassar

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:30 pm PT

    Finally Atari,congratz on making a game that's even nearly successful in the past 5 years.

  • Thirdrail1

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:06 pm PT

    Before I spend any more money on Ghostbusters stuff, they need to get some patches out that fix the many, many issues with this game. It's sad, because Ghostbusters TVG would have been one of the best games of the year if had been coded by competent professionals. (Maybe release on fewer platforms, using the time saved to get the game working right on the ones you do cover? Just a thought.)

  • JRD1912

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 6:05 pm PT

    Well if they let Dan and Harold write, direct, and produce a new film MAYBE it might be good. Thats such a hard call if they have a new cast. Do you copy the old, or try for an update. Either way they have to put way more effort into it then the writing they did on the game. The game was just passable in that respect.

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 5:41 pm PT

    Please God no! Please don't make a third movie! Hollywood would inevitable destroy a good name as they would no doubt bring in a bunch of actors supposed to be hip and edgy for today's spoiled brat youth with no appreciation for the original cast and what made them so special. The movies were successful because of the talent involved and the times were different; that's something you can't reproduce ever again.

  • cparker2510

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 5:37 pm PT

    @Humorguy_basic:

    your talk of a conspiracy amuses me. terms like success and failure are, in many ways, relative. perhaps, taking into account a weak market, and the fact that their game is based on a 25-year old franchise, they were shooting for 800k copies of the game sold. or 750k. or maybe they feel that the experience they created was so powerful that if they were to share the game with only one other soul on the entire planet (which would, mathematically speaking, translate into one copy sold), they would consider it a success.
    ...
    when i wake up in the morning, my goal is to get at least one leg into a pair of pants. most days, i blow that personal goal out of the water. double success.
    ...
    it's all about your expectations, man.

  • Humorguy_basic posted Jul 21, 2009 5:11 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Humorguy_basic

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 5:11 pm PT (hide)

    A million sales when you have it on so many formats is a failure. it's just spin from the company in conjunction with Gamespot who know exactly what a million sales means when you had PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, DS, and PC versions! Fallout 3 sold 2.5 million on PC only.The Witcher sold 5 million on PC only,and of course any hit 360 game usually sells more than a million! The media are part of a conspiracy to tell you porkie-pies so you feel good and spend more money on more games!

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