Despite tough talk from Activision, it seemed that nothing could save Guitar Hero 5; not commercials with a plethora of pantomiming Playmates, not the fact that it was released on more platforms, not even the time-traveling son of Eddie Van Halen himself could prevent a loss to the Lads from Liverpool.
“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,” said Scott Guthrie, MTV Games general manager, speaking with Gamasutra. “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.”
Guitar Hero 5 only charted one of its four SKUs in the September NPD top 20 – the Xbox 360 version at number nine – while all three versions of The Beatles: Rock Band turned up; the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions at numbers 5, 10 and 20 respectively. This comes despite Activision’s offering being on shelves a full week longer, as well as the publicized promotion of a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen for those who purchased the game before the end of the month.
Guthrie forecasts long legs on the project, which many worried wouldn’t meet sales expectations commensurate with the amount hype surrounding the momentous project.
“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.”
“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.”
What about all of you out there? Which franchise drew your attention (and more importantly, dollars) the most? Let us know in the comments below.
[Via: Gamasutra]
Who does this surprise? It’s the freaking BEATLES! Seriously, I love GH, but I knew there was no way it would beat The Beatles. Oh, and it’s fun. :)