"to make gamers conditioned to meaningless violence feel something". Joystiq criticised the game's lack of solid character interaction and its unbelievable, unintentionally silly plot. Destructoid criticised the game's thin character presentation and frequent narrative dead ends, as well as its lack of meaningful interactivity. The editor of Eurogamer took issue with the "gruelling, sentimental" game being "all story", comparing it to other games that "give the player complete control", observing the triviality of the player choices may modify the tone of each self-contained chapter, but the overall story is "going wherever it's going". Entertainer Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation was heavily critical of the game, focusing on the overuse of quick time events, the underuse of the game's central stealth mechanics, and the inconsistent tone and atmosphere, comparing playing the game to "watching any normal film and pressing the pause button every two seconds". Sales It was reported in July 2013 that Beyond: Two Souls was in the top twenty most pre-ordered games of 2013, and that by the end 2013, the game sold one million copies worldwide during its first three months of availability. The game sold over 70,000 copies in Quantic Dream's home country France during that time, more than its previous game Heavy Rain during its three-month debut. Heavy Rain budget was $22 million and the budget for Beyond: Two Souls was $27 million, not including approximately $18 million in costs for marketing and distribution. By July 2018, Beyond: Two Souls had sold 2.8 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling PlayStation 3 video games. Accolades Legacy In November 2014, David Cage discussed the future of video games and referred to the constant changes occurring within the gaming industry. "There will always be games for the hardcore gamers who see games as a skill-based sport, or as a way to compete with their friends", he said. He also referred to casual gamers who play games "as a mere hobby, like many titles for smartphones". He then stated, "We try to develop a middle way, with games that try to tell a story, to carry meaning, and where violence isn't the core activity. Most of all, we try to create an emotion, to make players live something strong and unique, which remains an ambitious challenge in a video game." Notes References External links 2013 video games Action-adventure games Central Intelligence Agency in fiction Video games about death