The Dark Souls series has seen phenomenal success with the critics and the community, but in general, it has always been perceived as something a bit niche- something that can only cater and appeal to a few players dedicated enough to put up with its punishing difficulty, while the mainstream rejects it. That premise is now coming under question, as From Software recently revealed that sales of the Dark Souls series have now touched 8 million units sold worldwide.

The original Dark Souls game makes up a staggering 5 million of these sales, with Dark Souls II and Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin making up the other 3 million. 900,000 of these total 8 million sales come from Japan- the rest of these games’ popularity all comes from the rest of the world.

All in all, it is not difficult to see why From and Bandai Namco are already working on a Dark Souls III, which is due to release next year. And between this news, and the commercial success of Bloodborne, it is increasingly becoming more and more foolish to deny the selling power these games have.

Hot on the heels of the Bloodborne 1 million announcement, Bandai Namco have confirmed that Dark Souls II, the hit sequel to From Software’s original Dark Souls game that was released last year, is now at 2.5 million copies sold worldwide. This includes sales across all platforms, and Namco notes that the release of Scholar of the First Sin on PS4, Xbox One, and PC might see sales spurred even more.

That is not the only quality Bandai Namco game that is doing well, however. The recently released Dragon Ball Xenoverse, which is being hailed as the greatest Dragon Ball game ever, has also taken off enormously, selling 2.5 million units as well; unlike Dark Souls II, however, it did this in just three months since its launch back in January.

For me, this is good news. Although Bandai Namco often get a lot of flack, they are a great developer and publisher, willing to take risks, and support a diverse portfolio of games. Seeing them get rewarded for it makes me happy.