Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour sold twice as many copies in the‭ ‬US last year than its fiercest rival,‭ ‬Rock Band‭ ‬2,‭ ‬according to data provided by NPD group.‭

World Tour,‭ ‬which was released in the US on October‭ ‬26‭ – ‬six weeks after Neversoft’s Rock Band‭ 2 – ‬is said to have amassed sales of‭ ‬3.4‭ ‬million units in the US last year.‭ ‬Rock Band,‭ ‬on the other hand,‭ ‬sold‭ ‬a total of 1.7‭ ‬million copies.

The data,‭ ‬uncovered by‭ ‬Gamespot,‭ ‬illustrates the distance Activation’s flagship title has over its biggest competitor.‭ ‬And though there are many parallels to draw between the two titles,‭ ‬one of the biggest differences between each can be found in their release strategies.‭

World Tour underwent a multiplatform launch across the four home consoles on day one,‭ ‬whereas Rock Band 2 launched a month before just on the Xbox‭ ‬360,‭ ‬limiting the‭ ‘‬head-start‭’ ‬to just a single platform.‭ ‬Rock Band‭ ‬2‭’‬s PS3‭ ‬version followed on October‭ ‬19‭ – ‬just a week before the full release of World Tour‭ – ‬while the Wii and PS2‭ ‬versions launched a significant number of weeks later,‭ ‬eventually arriving on December‭ ‬18.‭ ‬Here it is suggested that, in holding off Rock Band 2's PS2 and Wii releases to a week before Christmas Day,‭ ‬ MTV Games missed a lucrative sales opportunity with the two biggest consoles in the‭ ‬US.

Despite the disparity in sales volume,‭ ‬Metacritic shows both games were given fairly equal praise,‭ ‬with Rock Band‭ ‬2‭ ‬edging ahead by a negligible amount.