The Black Mirror (video game)

A few weeks after The Black Mirror's initial release in the Czech Republic, Marcel Speta of Future Games reported that it was selling adequately and according to company forecasts.[3] GMX Media president Eugene Perry remarked in March 2004 that the game had "been very successful in every territory",[4] and Future Games saw it as a "solid" seller in the United States.[5] Its global sales left the developer "extremely satisfied" by that May, according to Future's Martin Malík. At the time, it had just launched in Germany, and the company was hopeful regarding its performance in the region.[6] It claimed position #1 on Amazon.de's sales rankings upon release, although Carsten Fichtelmann of German publisher DTP Entertainment noted that certain brick and mortar stores had ordered "very small" shipments, a decision he considered to be a mistake.[7]

The Black Mirror ultimately surpassed DTP's sales forecasts and became a hit in Germany.[8][9] 4players reported that it was "by far" Germany's most successful adventure title during 2004's first six months, and that its sales proved the adventure genre's health in the country.[10] That September, DTP reiterated that it was performing "extremely well in the German-speaking territories", and that strong sales persisted "many months after" its initial launch. He noted that it was catching up to the sales of DTP's most popular adventure release, Runaway: A Road Adventure,[11] which had sold 60,000 units in Germany and had earlier helped to revive the country's adventure game industry.[12] The Black Mirror maintained its status as Germany's top-selling adventure of 2004 through the end of the year;[8][9] Chris Kellner of DTP believed that the game's German sales surpassed is commercial performance anywhere else.[8] Alongside Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring and The Moment of Silence, The Black Mirror contributed to DTP's large-scale growth during 2004.[13]

The Black Mirror went on to sell above 100,000 units in Germany alone.[14] According to Future Games, global sales surpassed 500,000 units by late 2008.[15]

Reception
Review scores Publication Score CGM [16] CGW [17] PC Gamer (US) 72%[18]

According to Gameswelt, The Black Mirror received harsh reviews from critics in the United States.[9] While most critics praised its dark atmosphere - created mostly by meticulously drawn backgrounds, music, ambiance and realistic animation and sound effects[19] - the quality of the English voice-overs was unsatisfying to many. Other points of criticism include the game's rigid linear structure, pixel hunting elements, plot holes and inconsistencies (acts later revealed to have been committed by certain characters were not possible given their location at the time) and most especially the game's ending.

4Players named The Black Mirror 2004's best adventure game.[20] In 2011, Adventure Gamers named Black Mirror the 83rd-best adventure game ever released.[21]

German-based Cranberry Production developed a sequel, Black Mirror II, in 2009. It takes place in the 1990s, twelve years after the original game. When solitary Darren Michaels befriends the beautiful Angelina Morgan, he has no idea what the fates hold in store for him. The alluring Angelina has also attracted the eye of several others; and when she suddenly disappears, Darren finds himself questioning what has happened to her while he is haunted by a series of torturous and ever-intensifying nightmares. Darren's search for his missing friend and his own sanity take him on a chilling expedition from his small New England town to Willow Creek, England - and the reigning evil of Black Mirror Castle.

Darren's journey will immerse him in the dark secrets and turbulent history of the castle's ill-fated Gordon Family. Legend has it that the Gordons were haunted by an ancient curse that ultimately led to their demise more than a decade earlier. Will Darren be able to overcome these demons and find Angelina? Will Darren's search lead him to redemption or the hell of insanity? Or will he become the curse's next victim?

A second and final sequel by Cranberry Production, Black Mirror III, was released in 2011.[22][23] The story connects with the end of Black Mirror 2, and promises a deep, mysterious story, including two playable characters.

KING Art Games and THQ Nordic are releasing Black Mirror; a modern re-imagining of the acclaimed Gothic-horror adventure series. New protagonist David Gordon never knew his estranged father particularly well. Still it comes as a shock when he is summoned to his family's ancestral home in the Scottish highlands, after his father has taken his own life there. David does not know much about his father's final weeks, but the circumstances of his death seem more than peculiar. Settling the heritage is merely an excuse for David to find out more about the castle his father grew up in, meeting the family he never knew and for shedding light on the mysteries surrounding his father's death.[24] Scotland, 1926. Following the suicide of his father, David Gordon visits his ancestral home for the first time in his life. A life that is soon threatened by the dark secrets that claimed the sanity of many Gordons before him. Tormented by nightmares and waking dreams for all his life, David fears that it might be his destiny to follow in his father's footsteps, down a path that leads to madness, and death. Is there really a Curse that has been haunting his family, like his father believed? It is up to David to uncover the horrible truths, buried under generations of silence and fathoms of stone. Black Mirror Castle demands an offering...[25]