Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Electronic Arts for Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. The game is distinguished by its sense of style and crass humor, rewarding players with points for performing increasingly ludicrous and creative kills. Bulletstorm does not have any competitive multiplayer modes, preferring instead to include cooperative online play as well as score attack modes. Set in the 26th century, the game's story follows Grayson Hunt, a space pirate and a deserted black ops member who is on a quest to exact revenge on General Sarrano, his former commander who have tricked him and his team into committing war crimes and assassinating innocents.

Bulletstorm
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Adrian Chmielarz
Producer(s)Tanya Jessen
Designer(s)Cliff Bleszinski
Programmer(s)Lukasz Migas
Artist(s)
  • Andrzej Poznanski
  • Chris Perna
Writer(s)Rick Remender
Composer(s)
  • Michał Cielecki
  • Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)
Release
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Development of the game started in June 2007. Adrian Chmielarz and Cliff Bleszinski served as its director and designer respectively, while Rick Remender, the author of Fear Agent, wrote the game's story. It was originally envisioned to be a cover-based third-person shooter, though the system and the core combat loop went through multiple revisions. Pulp fiction, Burnout, Duke Nukem and Flrefly all inspired the team during Bulletstorm's development. The team experimented with competitive multiplayer modes and campaign cooperative multiplayer mode during production, but nonetheless decided to remove them because of technological constraints. The game's was significantly censored in Germany due to its inclusion of excessively violent content.

Upon its release in February 2011, the game received positive reviews from critics who praised the game's setting, graphics, action, pacing and gameplay, but was critisied for its story, writing and multiplayer modes. It has amassed a great deal of controversy following its release. Bulletstorm was a commercial failure for both Epic Games and Electronic Arts, selling 1 million copies by 2013. Gearbox Publishing released a remastered version of the game titled Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition in April 2017 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and a version for Nintendo Switch in August 2019. A sequel was cancelled as the studio reallocated its resources to work on Gears of War: Judgement.

Gameplay
A gameplay screenshot showing the "Skillshot" system. Players receive points when they perform creative kills.

As a first-person shooter, Bulletstorm focuses on combat. The game features eight different weapons, each with their own distinct behaviors.[1] In addition to standard firearms such as shotgun and assault rifles, the game also features exotic and over-the-top weaponry such as "The Bouncer", which shoots cannonballs,[2][3] and the "flailgun", which is a cannon that shoots a bolas weighted by grenades.[4] Each weapon has an "alternate fire" mode which uses "charges";[5] for example, the Screamer revolver's "charge shot" turn the weapon into a flare gun that ignites an enemy and sends them into the air.[6] Bulletstorm uses a recharging health system, in which damage to the player is reflected by the screen turning red, and the player quickly returns to full health when not taking damage or hiding behind a cover.[7]

Much of the gameplay puts focus on the "energy leash", a rope of energy projected from a device on Grayson's hand. The leash allows him to pull enemies towards him and slam down a ball of energy that launches all nearby enemies and explosive barrels into the air.[8] The player can also kick enemies or run and slide into them. If an enemy is launched into the air from the whip or by being kicked/slid into, he goes into slow motion, allowing players to perform skillshots.[9] "Skillshot" rewards the player for killing opponents in the most creative and unusual ways possible.[10] Points are rewarded by various actions, such as killing enemies in midair, making use of environmental hazards such as kicking enemies towards spikes and impaling them, or utilizing a weapon's distinct feature.[6][11] The more complicated or unusual the skillshot, the more points players acquire.[12] Points are used as currency at "dropkits" scattered across the planet to purchase firearms, ammunition and upgrades.[6][7] Dropkit is also the site where players can swap their weapons,[13] access the Skillshot database, and view players' statistics.[1]

In addition to the single-player campaign, players can access two additional modes. In Echoes, players must play through a single-player level and kill the enemies in the most unusual ways possible within a fixed period of time. Players will be rated based on their performance, which would be uploaded to a leaderboard. Another mode is Anarchy, a four-player co-operative multiplayer mode. In Anarchy, players must fight through waves of enemies and perform skillshots. When the group of players gain enough skillshots, they can then unlock new levels and arenas. The Anarchy mode has their own sets of skillshots and progression system.[14]

Plot

Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century, where the universe is run by the Confederation of Planets. Grayson Hunt (Steven Blum) is the leader of Dead Echo, a black ops team under command of General Earl Sarrano (Anthony De Longis). Following Sarrano's orders and assassinating alleged criminals, Dead Echo kills a man known as Bryce Novak. Immediately after, they discover Novak was a civilian reporter, documenting civilian deaths caused by Dead Echo. Realizing they have been tricked by Sarrano, Grayson and his team desert and become space pirates on the run from Sarrano's forces.

Ten years later, Grayson commands a ship with his old teammates, Ishi Sato (Andrew Kishino), Rell Julian (Chris Cox), and Dr. Whit Oliver (Robin Atkin Downes). He spots Sarrano's battlecruiser, the Ulysses near the planet of Stygia. In a drunken rage, he attacks and rams the Ulysses. The ships collide and crash land on the surface of Stygia, fatally wounding Ishi. To save Ishi, Grayson and Rell leave the ship to find an energy cell for the ship's medical equipment. Grayson reaches one of the Ulysses escape pods, and retrieves the pod's energy cell and a device called an "instinct leash". Grayson and Rell return with the energy cell, and Doc begins replacing several of Ishi's body parts with cybernetics, including an AI processor for parts of his brain. However, in the middle of the operation, the bandits attack their ship, killing Doc, Rell, and leaving Ishi a disfigured cyborg.

Grayson and Ishi decide to work together to get off the planet, despite Ishi's disapproval of Grayson's thirst for revenge. Throughout the game, the AI processor in Ishi's brain takes over several times, fueled by his anger at Grayson's selfish and reckless actions which killed their teammates and put them in danger. The instinct leash leads Grayson to another escape pod, where they find Trishka (Jennifer Hale), a Final Echo soldier. She agrees to work with Grayson and Ishi under the condition that they rescue Sarrano. As they battle through the ravaged city, Grayson finds out that Trishka was Novak's daughter, Grayson tells her that Sarrano was responsible for her father's death, but lies about his involvement.

The three fight their way to Sarrano's escape pod, which landed on a skyscraper. Trishka accuses Sarrano of her father's death, but he pushes her off the building. Sarrano then warns Grayson and Ishi of an armed "DNA bomb" on the Ulysses that will wipe out all life on the planet. He urges them to disarm it as his rescue ship will not arrive in time. Aboard the Ulysses, Sarrano tricks Grayson and Ishi into arming what was actually an inert bomb, and leaves. As fire breaks out aboard the fallen ship, the two are saved by Trishka, who survived the fall.

The three race to Sarrano's rescue ship and get on board. They fight through Sarrano's elite troops and eventually confront him. Trishka demands to know who killed her father, and Sarrano reveals Grayson's squad carried out the order. As the heroes argue, Sarrano hijacks Ishi's computer systems and forces Ishi to turn on his friends. Grayson manages to break Sarrano's control, and Ishi sacrifices himself to save his teammate. Enraged, Grayson impales Sarrano on the debris sticking out of the wall. Sarrano, still alive, ejects Grayson and Trishka out of the rescue ship. Grayson and Trishka race back to the Ulysses and board an unused escape pod. They launch it into low orbit, then the explosion of the DNA bomb propels the pod into space. Inside the pod, the two talk about Grayson's revenge, the loss of his team, and Sarrano's escape. Trishka asks Grayson what he is going to do about Sarrano escaping, and the screen fades to black. In a post-credits scene, it is revealed that Sarrano was revived as a cyborg. Ishi also survives and is now taken over by the AI processor.

Development
Rick Remender served as the game's writer.

Bulletstorm is developed by Polish video game developer People Can Fly (PCF), which had previously created the Painkiller series, a first-person shooter (FPS) designed for PC.[15] Bulletstorm is the studio's first triple-A game.[16] Development began in June 2007, and the game enjoyed a development cycle of about three and a half years.[17] During the game's production, the studio had about 70 people. The game was a collaboration between PCF and Epic Games, which had acquired a majority stake in the studio in August 2007.[18] Electronic Arts published the game under its EA Partners programme, after being impressed by the studio's work on Painkiller.[19] The game was directed by PCF's Adrian Chmielarz, designed by Epic's Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, and penned by writer and producer Rick Remender. PCF confirmed on February 2, 2011, that Bulletstorm had declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release.[20]

Since Bulletstorm was the studio's first video game developed for home consoles, Epic Games helped the studio extensively when they were porting the game to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[19] The game was powered by Epic's own Unreal Engine 3 rather than PCF's own proprietary engine. This change allowed the team to create game demos quickly when they were trying to pitch the project to publishers. The initial demo impressed Epic, which agreed to collaborate with PCF.[21] While Bulletstorm was mainly developed by PCF, Epic Games served to ensure that the game reached high quality by providing feedback and engine support. Some of the game's development were outsourced to external companies in Germany, USA, China, USA, Sweden, and Poland.[22] Epic, which was an esteemed developer, helped secured a publishing agreement with Electronic Arts.[21] While there were initially communication troubles among the three companies, this problem was eased when the studio streamlined the communication processes. Whereas previously EA and Epic would provide feedback separately to PCF, the new communication model saw EA directly providing feedback to Epic, which would then integrate EA's feedback with their own and deliver them to PCF.[22] Regarding the collaboration with Epic, Chmielarz said that the studio "got some tough love from Epic and their uncompromising approach to quality", and pointed out that it was "a fantastic lesson on what quality means".[16]

Chmielarz said that the studio origianlly did not plan to have any unique gameplay feature or ambitious goal for the game, and that the intention was to "offer a fun high adventure". Bulletstorm was initially envisioned to be a cover-based third-person shooter similar to Gears of War.[21] However, according to producer Tanya Jesson, the gameplay underwent multiple iterations, and as development progressed, it became a cover-based FPS. The team later decided to deemphasized cover after they have created the weapons, as they deemed that they did not complement well with the cover-based gameplay.[23] The studio reiterated the game's core combat loop extensively, and incorporated systems that would support emergent gameplay.[22] The slide mechanic was inspired by Mega Man, while the leash was inspired by Scorpion's spear in Mortal Kombat.[21] Through internal focus testing and seeing how fellow developers play the game, the team realized that "people were playing with their enemies like a cat plays with a mouse before he takes it out". This led to the creation of the Skillshots system, which aimed at rewarding players' creativity.[22][21] Bleszinski described the game as "the Burnout of shooters".[24] He also cited Duke Nukem, Firefly and Serenity as his inspirations for Bulletstorm.[25]

While the studio had created a playable team deathmatch prototype for the game, the team did not incorporate it into the final product because they believed that the market was crowded with competitive FPS at that time. The team created the Anarchy cooperative mode as an alternative. Chmielarz added that the development for Anarchy started during the late stage of production, and it catered only to hardcore players. He concluded that it was the "wrong choice for the online modes".[22] Bleszinski added that the exotic firearms featured in the campaign will not translate well to a competitive game environment and it would have required PCF to rework all the systems in order to make the mode fun. Bleszinski added that the game initially had a cooperative mode that allow friends to play through the campaign together. However, it was cancelled after realizing that it shifted the game from "being this kind of puzzle shooter into essentially this downhill skiing simulator". Its removal allow the studio to encourage players to use Skillshots more frequently and enabled the team to create more unique scenarios.[26] The score attack Echoes mode was added in the last six months of production after seeing gamers and journalists competing against each other for high scores in the game's E3 2010 demo.[22]

Remender were recruited in 2009 by Chmielarz, which was impressed by his work on comic book series Fear Agent and Black Heart Billy. He was invited to visit PCF's headquarters in Warsaw for a week and finished drafting the story with the game team.[27][28] The game's story focused on "redemption and revenge", and the planet Stigya, a tourist paradise destroyed by a natural disaster of unknwon origin, was to evoke the same feeling as BioShock's Rapture.[29] Remender added that the story telling was not intended to be serious, and that the narrative relied a lot on cliches.[27] The character Ichi was described as "Samurai Spock" while General Sarrano, which was initially only a placeholder villain, was described a "classic psychopath" and a "pure evil".[28][27] Pulp fiction such as Juan Buscamares (a comic series published in January 1998 via the Heavy Metal magazine), Indiana Jones, and men's magazines covers from 1920 to 1970 all helped inspired the game's narrative and visuals.[30] Following the game's release, it was often criticised for its use of profanity. Chmielarz responded by saying that as Poles, English's profanity was "exotic and fun to us" and he did not realize that the game had so many of them until he read the Polish translation. The team incorporated a language filter, though Chmielarz noted that barely anyone notice its existence.[22]

Release

In 2008, Electronic Arts announced that it would be publishing a new IP from independent game developer Epic Games.[31] A trademark for the name "Bulletstorm" was revealed when game developer People Can Fly filed a trademark for the name in December 2009.[32] Epic Games designer Cliff Bleszinski was originally scheduled to announce the game alongside Gears of War 3 during an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2010. However, his appearance was delayed to April 12, 2010, after his slot was taken by pop singer Justin Bieber.[33] However, the game was revealed before the scheduled appearance when gaming magazine Game Informer released its May 2010 issue which revealed the game on its cover.[34]

EA provided extensive marketing for the game.[35] Epic released a limited edition for Bulletstorm exclusively for Xbox 360 known as the Epic Edition. The Epic Edition includes bonus in-game content for Bulletstorm when playing online, as well as access to the multiplayer beta of Gears of War 3.[36] In January 2011, a viral video for Bulletstorm was released, parodying the Halo 3 "Believe" diorama.[37] This was followed up in February with the release of Duty Calls, a free downloadable PC game that parodies the Call of Duty series, as well as general first-person shooter clichés.[38] Players who preordered the Limited Edition on PC would also receive a free copy of Klei Entertainment's Shank, which was published by EA.[39] A demo of the game, featuring one of the game's Echoes mission, was released on January 25, 2011, for the Xbox 360 and on January 26, 2011, for the PlayStation 3.[40] Following this announcement, Bleszinski wrote a tweet on January 14, 2011, about how the demo was only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which was considered by game reviewers as a way of making fun of PC players.[41] Epic Games' vice-president Mark Rein later clarified that a PC demo would be released after the game's release.[42] The PC demo was released on April 4 and featured the same level as the console versions.[43] The demo attracted more than 2 million players, though in hindsight, Chmielarz believed that the demo had confused players, as the Echo mission did not adequate communicate to the player what the experience was.[22] The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on February 22, 2011.[44] Ragdoll effects, blood, splatter and dismembering were censored in the game's German version, despite having granted "Adult" rating by the German Entertainment Software Rating Board.[45] Both Bleszinski and Chmielarz critisied the game's marketing campaign which focuses extensively on the game's sillness and relied a lot on jokes.[16]

The first downloadable content (DLC) for Bulletstorm was released on April 14, 2011, on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,[46] and on May 19, 2011, on PC.[47] The content includes three Anarchy maps, two Echo missions and two Leash colors.[46] The second DLC, Blood Symphony was first released on June 10, 2011, for Xbox 360. The content includes two "Echoes" maps, three "Anarchy" maps, and a new mode called "The Ultimate Echoes".[48]

Remastered version

The remastered version was revealed during The Game Awards 2016 in December by publisher Gearbox Publishing.[49] It increased texture resolution and included support for 4K resolutions, and included additional content created by People Can Fly. The remastered version also includes new content such as the Overkill Campaign Mode, which starts the players with access to all the game's weapons and six new Echo maps. Those who pre-ordered the game received access to the Duke Nukem's Bulletstorm Tour downloadable content, allowing players to play as Duke Nukem with new voice lines recorded by Jon St. John.[50] Gearbox' Randy Pitchford explained that the remastered version was not a free update for those that already owned the game on Windows, as the license was still held with Electronic Arts and they only secured the rights to help People Can Fly create the remaster, in addition to issues in transitioning from the discontinued Games for Windows Live platform.[51] Entitled the "Full Clip Edition" , the remastered version was released on April 7, 2017, for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Gearbox drew controversy when they decided to partner with game key reseller G2A for the sales of exclusive Collector's Editions of Full Clip Edition. The studio ultimately cancelled its agreement with G2A.[52] A port of the Full Clip Edition for the Nintendo Switch, titled Duke of Switch Edition, was released in August 31, 2019.[53]

Reception

Critical reception

Accorrding to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received generally positive reviews upon release.[54][55][56] Writing for GameSpot, Kevin VanOrd described the game as "sometimes ludicrous and often ludicrously fun". He praised the skillshot mechanic for tieing into the upgrade system as this gave players incentive to utilize them during combat. He also enjoyed the weapons, which enables players to fight against enemies in "intriguing " ways.[65] Rich McCormick from PC Gamer praised the skillshot system for allowing players to use their creativity to eliminate enemies, which allowed him to "[slip] into a routine of applied sadism". However, he noted that this combat loop falls flat during the later part of the game which see players combating more agile mutant enemies.[69] Tim Turi from Game Informer wrote that "Bulletstorm offers a degree of character control I haven't experienced in an FPS since Mirror's Edge", and praised how the game allowed players to freely combine different moves together.[64] Arthur Gies, a reviewer from IGN, who described the game as "violently charming" believed that the skillshot system, the exotic weapons, and the responsive gunplay turned Bulletstorm's combat into a success, though he noted that by the end of the game, the combat became monotous and repetitive as the game "runs out of tricks and new combat situations".[67] David Houghton from GamesRadar compared the game to that of a "3D puzzle game" and a "high-speed strategy game". He further described the game as "a very intelligent, highly intricate, and sumptuously nuanced design masquerading as a big dumb action game", and recognised that its gameplay helped evolve the FPS genre.[66]

VanOrd liked the variety in the game's mission design, as he felt that most of the missions were entertaining and "[ramp] up the excitement". Despite this, he was disappointed by the game's linear design, making it difficult for the player to control the battlefield when they were facing multiple enemies at once.[65] Gies praised the pacing of the story and the game's setpieces, which offered "fantastic moments of spectacle". Joystiq's Randy Nelson agreed, calling the setpieces "impressive" and noted that they were "exciting and nicely paced throughout". Christian Donlan from Eurogamer agreed. He wrote that the game was filled with "gleaming details and beautiful vistas" and appreciated the diversity of the in-game locations.[63] Both McCormick and Gies praised the game's visual and the setting for its colorful palette.[67] Nelson praised Stygia as a setting. He described the campaign as a "wild ride through some truly fantastic, alien locations", and that the world was "as deadly as it is gorgeous" and "surprisingly vibrant".[68] Gies also appreciated the game's environmental storytelling, which helped establish Stygia's history and turned it into an interesting setting.[67]

VanOrd described Ishi as the game's best character, and described him as "conflicted, temperamental, and unpredictable". However, he critisied the game's excessive use of profanities, and added that the dialogue is "cringe-worthy", which undermined the studio's attempt at serious storytelling.[65] Arthur Gies, a reviewer from IGN, described the set-up as original and liked the characters, though he critisied the anti-climatic ending. Nelson called the characters "one-dimensional", and wrote that the characters in the game "speak in an almost unending stream of near-poetic vulgarity". Despite this, he believed that the use of profanities fit tonally with the game and offered moments of levity following combat-heavy sequences.[68] Nick Chester, writing for Destructoid, wrote that the entertaining story complemented with the gameplay fairly well, though he noted that the narrative occasionally relied on "pulp clichés and conspicuous plot twists".[62] Taylor Cocke from 1Up.com liked how the game parodied other FPS and wrote that the game "gives the genre the kick in the ass it needs to break itself of its obsession with melodrama". However, he remarked that the story was overly serious. He wrote that the campaign was dragged down by the stark contrast between the tone of the story and the chaotic and creative nature of the combat.[61]

Commenting on the multiplayer, VanOrd added that the multiplayer was fun but "limited in scope". He remarked that the experience, while mostly rewarding, could be frustrating if the players were joined by strangers. He further added that the maps for the mode were too small in size, and players may get bored easily due to a lack of variety.[65] Gies shared similar sentiment, writing that Anarchy "loses its luster quickly". Gies labelled the absence of campaign co-op as a missed opportunity. While he called Echo a good inclusion, he was disappointed that the leaderboard was not incorporated into the game's main campaign.[67] Nelson liked the Anarchy mode for its inclusion of new Skillshots, but called the Echo mode "cut-and-dry".[68] Donlan liked the Echo mode for being a distilled experience which disregarded the story elements completely, and compared the leaderboard competition favourably to that of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Zuma Blitz.[63]

The remastered version received generally positive reviews.[57][59][58] Scott Butterworth from GameSpot praised the upgraded textures and visuals, "impressive" draw distance and stable frame rate. However, he was disappointed that the Duke Nukem DLC did not meaningfully change the story or change the cutscenes.[70] Lucy O'Brien from IGN praised the improved lighting system, and believed that the improved visuals helped elevate the intensity and the urgency of the setpieces in the game. However, she noted that the original game showed its age due to the presence of invisible walls and the lack of a dedicated jump button. She further expressed her disappointment that PCF did not add much new into the remaster.[71] Reviewing the Nintendo Switch version, PJ O'Reilly from Nintendo Life expressed his disappointment regarding the absence of multiplayer and the lack of gyroscopic controls.[72]

Fox News controversy

On February 8, 2011, the game came under scrutiny by Fox News through an article on their website by John Brandon through their televised broadcast and another article.[73] Alongside the panel of Fox News was psychologist Carole Lieberman, who claimed "The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games". Her statement caused enraged gamers to review bomb her book at Amazon, and Lieberman later responded by saying that her quotes were taken out of context by Brandon.[74] Nonetheless, she continued to draw correlations between rape and sexual content in video games, citing that she have "thousands" of research supporting her claim. To support this claim, Lieberman referred to eight sources, one of them being Bulletstorm. Gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun analysed Lieberman's claims, and found only one of eight sources she provided had anything to do with the subject at hand.[75] Kotaku also quoted data from US Department of Justice that the number of rape cases have been declining since 1973, though Lieberman refuted this by saying that the official rape statistics were "known to be variable and unreliable". Dr. Mark Griffiths, a professor at Nottingham Trent University whose lectures focused on video game addiction described Fox's news piece as "sensationalist" when interviewed by The Guardian. He added that it would be very difficult to prove that exposure to sexual content in video games contributed to rape crimes due to the large amount of confounding factors involved.[76] Brandon followed up his report on February 20, adding that the gaming press "reacted violently" and the experts he have talked to "were nearly universally worried that video game violence may be reaching a fever pitch".[77] Rock, Paper, Shotgun later contacted the experts, most of whom revealed that they have never said such thing.[78]

EA defended the developers and the game. Its vice president of public relations, Tammy Schachter, wrote that the publisher have abided the policies established by the ESRB and marketed the game only towards the mature audience. She further added that "much like Tarantino's Kill Bill or Rodriguez's Sin City, this game is an expression of creative entertainment for adults".[79] Epic's CEO Mike Capps added that the Fox News controversy helped the game to reach a wider audience, and he was delighted that the gaming press helped defend the game. He, however, noted his concern that the Fox news piece may mislead an uniformed general public.[80]

Sales

EA had high expectations for the game. David DeMartini, an executive from EA, expected that the game could potentially perform as well as the Gears of War games.[81] In the United Kingdoms, Bulletstorm was the second best-selling video game in its week of release, only behind Killzone 3.[82] In the US, it was the seventh best-selling game in February 2021.[83] It sold around 300,000 units in February, and the Xbox 360 was the platform of choice for most players.[84][85] Capps added that the game did not turn a profit for Epic,[85] while an unnamed source from EA revealed that the game "underperformed" for them.[86] In 2013, it was revealed that the game sold under 1 million copies.[87] Capps added that the game did not sell well on PC, citing piracy as the main reason behind its disappointing performance, though he admitted that it was not a very good port.[88] Chmielarz initially blamed the game's EA marketing, which reduced "fresh ideas to dick-jokes for dude-bros". He later recognised that the game was the victim of an industry shift, as smaller-tier games were slowly being phased out.[89] However, Sebastian Wojciechowski, the CEO of People Can Fly following their split from Epic, considered that the game sold well, and it was never going to be considered as successful or profitable as Epic's Gears of War series at the time.[90]

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition debuted as the 23rd best-selling game in the UK in its week of release.[91] Wojciechowski added that the sales of the remaster "went really, really well" and that it validated the studio's belief that it should do something with the IP in the future.[92]

Sequel

According to Capps, the studio had started development of Bulletstorm's sequel, but its development was sidelined as Epic assigned PCF to work on Gears of War: Judgement, a spin-off in the Gears of War series.[93][94] PCF became independent in 2015 following a management buyout,[90] and it retained the intellectual property rights to Bulletstorm.[95] Speaking about a potential sequel in 2019, Wojciechowski, said that the studio wanted the IP to have a "have its second life" despite the fact that it was not the short-term goal for the studio.[96] Wojciechowski added that should the studio return to the IP, they would consider ways in order to make it more popular.[97]

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