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Beatles Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero 5: Who won the first round?
And the winner, by nearly 100,000 copies in the first month, is Beatles Rock Band! Following the release of NPD sales data for September, MTV Games general manager Scott Guthrie said to Gamasutra:We outsold them two-to-one on a revenue basis and we outperformed on a unit basis as well, despite the fact that they had an eight-day advantage, and were giving away free software....At the end of the day, The Beatles: Rock Band clearly outperformed them, and we're not done yet. We're anticipating a very successful holiday period.
Then he noted that all you need is love.
The total number of Beatles Rock Band copies sold was 595,000 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii. The total number of Guitar Hero 5 copies sold was 499,000 for the same three platforms as well as the Playstation 2.
Round two will be Lego Rock Band vs. Band Hero.
By Ginger Yellow at 10:03 AM ON 10/20/09
A rather ominous passage buried inside the article:
"Prior to the NPD release, RBC Capital Markets upgraded its Viacom rating on expectations of strong Beatles sales -- but also implied that the Rock Band franchise has not reached profitability prior to this latest game release. Asked to comment on the report, Guthrie declined to give details, deferring until an upcoming financial call, but did tell Gamasutra that MTV Games has a two-pronged marketing plan prepared for Beatles.
"We're certainly pleased with how it performed, and it's on track with our expectations, both ours and our partners," Guthrie said. "This isn't just a one-week or a one-month launch activity. Our strategy was always that we'd have a great launch in September, target those key gamers, and come back in the holiday period to focus a little more on the folks on the sidelines or not as entrenched in the music category." Added Guthrie, "By the time [holiday] sales are all counted up by the end of January, I think you're going to see that strategy worked out for us.""
By superbelt at 12:33 PM ON 10/20/09
I wonder, how much more royalties per game did the Beatles cost the developer vs. what Guitar Hero 5 had to pay.
That might even out the actual profits a bit.
By potsonna at 8:45 AM ON 10/23/09
Cool!
potsonna:
Cool!...More »