Hot Wheels Unleashed has been a runaway success for Italian developer Milestone, and its parent companies Koch Media and Embracer Group, it has been revealed during a Q3 2021 earnings presentation.
Having recently announced that the game had sold over one million copies, it turns out that the game has been a lightning bolt for the Milanese studio’s financials.
“I’m very positive for our future because with Hot Wheels [Unleashed] we did a step forward. We are looking to the future from a higher perspective,” said Luisa Bixio, Vice President of Milestone s.r.l. earlier today, 17th February 2022.
“Hot Wheels has been released in September 2021 after a difficult period, so for us, it is incredibly important. The team understood we could do something very different. Hot Wheels was a big challenge and something different, but we succeeded, and it made the company grow up.”
During the evening Bixio went on to explain how the game had covered its costs almost immediately.
“The very first day of the [game’s] launch, the 30th September 2021, with our revenue, we covered our development, marketing and production costs. So from the second day, we were in the profit area.
“But Hot Wheels is not just financial, Hot Wheels has been a beautiful adventure for Milestone.”
It seems that the 25-year old racing game creator isn’t stopping there. Alongside a commitment to continue making simulation franchises such as MotoGP and a new WorldSBK game, it sounds like it would like to follow up the success of Unleashed with further arcade-style games.
“For sure, who will continue with our annual licences and simulation. It’s our experience and [remains] very important.
“But, besides this, we want to grow up in the other side, a more mass-market side. So, Hot Wheels is not finished. We have a lot of DLC that we will release [throughout] 2022.
“But, we are already working on the future, on more than one opportunity.
“There are many other possible licences that can be interpreted as racing or something similar to racing.”
Thanks to the windfall from Unleashed, it seems like Milestone is perfectly placed to invest in its current portfolio but also expand into new and exciting areas. Its next release is Monster Energy Supercross 5 on 17th March 2022.
