Editing Stonekeep (section)

===Sales===
In preparation for ''Stonekeep''{{'}}s launch, Interplay shipped 175,000 units to retailers. This was the company's biggest shipment ever, according to Greg Miller of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref name=latimeslaunch>{{cite news | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020134736/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-03/business/fi-64334_1_cd-rom-game | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-03-fi-64334-story.html | title=Long Journey to Reality | date=November 3, 1995 | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | author=Miller, Greg | archive-date=October 20, 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref> Interplay dedicated $1.5 million to the game's marketing budget, also the largest for any of its games by that point.<ref name=marketing>{{cite press release | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961220013329/http://www.interplay.com/press/skmark2.html | url=http://www.interplay.com:80/press/skmark2.html | title=Interplay Launches Multifaceted Marketing Campaign For Epic Saga Title ''Stonekeep'' | publisher=[[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay]] | date=October 2, 1995 | location=[[Irvine, California]] | archive-date=December 20, 1996 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In response to public reception of ''Stonekeep''{{'}}s pre-release demo, the company "stepped up the initial release forecast to 200,000 units".<ref name=200k>{{cite press release | title=Gamers Herald ''Stonekeep'' - 'Interplay's Return to RPG Gaming' | publisher=[[PR Newswire]] | date=November 6, 1995 | location=Irvine, California }}</ref> In the days before ''Stonekeep''{{'}}s release, ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' reported: "With store orders already topping 90,000, Interplay says it's set to become the fastest selling game in the company's twelve-year history."<ref name=nextgenlaunch>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970419221811/http://www.next-generation.com/news/112895h.html | url=http://www.next-generation.com:80/news/112895h.html | title=''Stonekeep'' Ready to Roll | date=November 28, 1995 | author=Staff | work=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] | archive-date=April 19, 1997 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Upon its release, the game placed fourth on [[PC Data]]'s monthly computer game sales chart for November 1995,<ref name=nov1995>{{cite news | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402042448/http://articles.courant.com/1995-12-27/entertainment/9512270091_1_pc-data-on-line-computers | url=https://www.courant.com/1995/12/27/pixels-258/ | title=Pixels | author=Hunt, Kevin | date=December 27, 1995 | newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]] | archive-date=April 2, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> but was absent on the following month's chart.<ref name=pce>{{cite journal | author=Staff | title=Leaderboard | journal=PC Entertainment | date=April 1996 | issue=28 | page=20 }}</ref> According to Interplay, its global sales surpassed 300,000 copies by June 1998.<ref name=interplaysales>{{cite report | date = June 22, 1998 | title = Interplay Entertainment Final Prospectus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226210148/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/0001017062-98-001416.txt | url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/0001017062-98-001416.txt | archive-date=February 26, 2017 | location=Irvine, California | page=37 }}</ref> Author [[Erik Bethke]] later described ''Stonekeep''{{'}}s commercial performance as "weak", which he blamed on its five-year development cycle.<ref name=bethkesales>{{cite book | author=Bethke, Erik | author-link=Erik Bethke | title=Game Development and Production | page=21 | date=January 25, 2003 | publisher=Wordware Publishing | isbn=1556229518 }}</ref>