Nostalgia can be a very lucrative thing, and a major driving force in compelling gamers to try out titles they normally wouldn’t these days. Case in point, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated. Collection-based platformers may largely be a thing of the past, but that hasn’t stopped the revival of the fondly-remembered 2003 title from selling very well.
THQ Nordic announced the news today as part of the Embracer Group Q1 Report Webcast Presentation, which included financial results from other publishers such as Deep Silver and Saber Interactive. Amid all the usual numbers and business jargon, it was revealed that sales of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated have surpassed one million copies since its June launch, exceeding THQ Nordic’s expectations and resulting in its best fiscal quarter yet.
That’s impressive especially since the reception to Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated has been pretty mixed for a game this successful, with many fans being disappointed that more wasn’t done to update the 17-year old game beyond giving it better graphics. To reiterate the opening point, though, nostalgia can be very powerful, especially where SpongeBob is concerned.
Outside of SpongeBob, THQ’s other Q1 title, the well-received stealth-action game Desperados 3, has yet to meet sales expectations on account of being more niche, but it expects to get there in the long run. THQ also touched upon its recently-released remake of Destroy All Humans, and while sales figures have yet to be released for that game, the publisher stated that, like SpongeBob, it has managed to exceed expectations.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is available for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Embracer
