A few years ago, the idea that the sandbox-y first-person stealth-ish shooter could ever find a second wind would be met with sorry sighs. Delightfully, after Deus Ex: Human Revolution last year and now Dishonored, the future's looking grand for the genre time almost forgot. Dishonored publisher Bethesda Softworks has said that sales of Arkane's sneak 'em up are "far exceeding" expectations, and dubbed it "a new franchise."

"I can tell you that Dishonored is far exceeding our sales expectations, which is especially cool considering it's new IP facing a host of well-established franchises this quarter," Bethesda marketing man Pete Hines told Destructoid. "We did terrific numbers again this past weekend, both in stores and on Steam, where Dishonored was listed as the #1 selling title over the holiday weekend. And Dishonored has really sold well overseas."

Being discounted to half-price in the Steam Thanksgiving sale helped hugely with that, mind.

Hines added, "So, we're very pleased and appreciate all the fans that have supported Dishonored and Arkane. We clearly have a new franchise."

Arkane's not done with Dishonored yet, currently working on three DLC packs. The first, the $5 challenge mode Dunwall City Trials is slated to launch on December 11. Two story-driven add-ons will follow.