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GameStop: Music Genre Not as "Robust"
The hot music videogame genre would seem nearly infallible, but retailer GameStop admitted on Thursday that the popularity of such games has declined year-on-year.
GameStop EVP and CFO David Carlson said during an earnings call, "The overall category of the music genre is very healthy, and we expect it to be popular throughout the holiday season. But as I think everyone knows, it's not as robust as it was last year."
The major players, Harmonix and Activision Blizzard, recently released their respective music titles, Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. The more recent release, Guitar Hero World Tour, sold 534k units across four platforms during October in the U.S.
Harmonix and MTV Games parent Viacom said sales of the Rock Band franchise were a bright spot in its otherwise weak third quarter.
The higher price tag of peripheral-based instrument bundles also likely doesn't have a positive sales effect when the current economic downturn is taken into consideration.
Despite noting the slower uptake in music games, GameStop believes that demand is still there.
Carlson continued, "For example, the Guitar Hero band kit is selling extremely well and is out of stock in many cases, particularly the Xbox [360] and the Wii versions. But again, we're thinking it will moderate somewhat for the holiday..."
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
I agree with Peter, I would like to see more DLC for both games. I think that the Beatles game will sell very well though, I probably would buy it when it comes out. One question though, does it come with mop top wigs?
It shouldn't be too surprising there is somewhat of a decline. Beside the obvious economic downturn, even for a "hardcore" game player who enjoys the music game genre, it's very hard to justify buying more plastic instruments to take up space in your home.
The Guitar Hero: WT numbers also are probably misleading as it came out October 31st.
Still, next year will probably see further decline in sales, as Activision milks the GH franchise and music game genre raw.
And I hope Harmonix continues to expand Rock Band/Rock Band 2 via downloadable content at a similar or quicker pace that they've set, and that the standalone Beatles game will be their only full game release next year.