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Texas Chain Saw Massacre nets 5.6 million players as Black Tower takes over development

Don't mess with Texas.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

February 28, 2024

1 Min Read
Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Image via Sumo Nottingham/Gun Interactive.

At a Glance

  • Even with the regime change, Gun Interactive appears to be putting its faith in Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its future.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre has sold 1.1 million copies, but it has significantly more players since its August release.

Per Sumo Nottingham, the horror multiplayer game has reached 5.6 million total players. The majority of them (read: 4.5 million) come from Xbox Game Pass, where it arrived on launch day.

This milestone comes days after publisher Gun Interactive revealed Black Tower Studios is handling Texas' development going forward. The Tokyo studio began taking the game's reigns in January.

Black Tower famously took the reigns of Friday the 13th: The Game from original studio Illfonic in 2018. That title fully shut down in 2023, and was also published by Gun Interactive.

In general, multiplayer games based on horror properties have had bad luck. Evil Dead: The Game shut down last year, and titles like Predator: Hunting Grounds have fizzled out.

What's next for Texas Chain Saw Massacre

At the moment, Gun is still all-in on Texas. In the press release, it states Black Tower will "help usher in new content and support."

Other studios, such as Art Bully Productions and Testronic Labs, will help with QA or making in-game cosmetics. Odd Gentleman, known for the 2015 King's Quest, has been brought on to explore "possible future modes."

Gun appears to want to keep Texas Chain Saw Massacre around for a while, as it stressed these support studios will help the game "continue to evolve and expand."

Last October, Sumo Nottingham designer Steve Kirby talked about making Texas Chain Saw Massacre feel like the horror movie it's based on, which can be read here.

About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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