Activision Climbs on Top... Again
And once again, it's all thanks to Guitar Hero.
Published: November 19, 2007
We may talk a lot of crap about Activision's business practices (they've obviously taken a page from EA in the "milk a franchise until it's a dried up, withered husk of a brand"), but clearly following EA's lead is doing some good for the company's bottom line. The incredible success of the Guitar Hero brand was easily the biggest contributor to things (it's the new Tony Hawk doncha know), but even with a string of lackluster licensed games, the company managed to rake in record market share numbers.
Guitar Hero III managed to clinch the number one sales spot on the PS3, the Wii, the 360 and the PS2 all at once, also notching honors as the third highest-selling third-party game ever on the Wii. But hey, maybe finally climbing on top for the month of October with a 28.7% market share will mean the company sits back and takes their time in using the Guitar Hero bran-
"The Guitar Hero franchise has only scratched the surface of its potential since it was previously only available for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft," droned Activision CEO and Chairman Robert Kotick. "Despite having significantly increased our production capabilities for the holiday, there is still a high likelihood that we will not be able to meet demand for this game on every platform."
Well hey, good news for them, though something about that statement smacks of us seeing GHIII expansions for the next 10 years (maybe it's the fact that the last time they were tooting their horn about sales like this, it was because of Guitar Hero II's success). Call us pessimists. Still, a win is a win, and though holding the top position may be fleeting (remember, Rock Band comes out tomorrow and it's $170 bucks), we've gotta hand it to the Big A. We're sure their shareholders are doing backflips this Holiday season.
Guitar Hero III managed to clinch the number one sales spot on the PS3, the Wii, the 360 and the PS2 all at once, also notching honors as the third highest-selling third-party game ever on the Wii. But hey, maybe finally climbing on top for the month of October with a 28.7% market share will mean the company sits back and takes their time in using the Guitar Hero bran-
"The Guitar Hero franchise has only scratched the surface of its potential since it was previously only available for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft," droned Activision CEO and Chairman Robert Kotick. "Despite having significantly increased our production capabilities for the holiday, there is still a high likelihood that we will not be able to meet demand for this game on every platform."
Well hey, good news for them, though something about that statement smacks of us seeing GHIII expansions for the next 10 years (maybe it's the fact that the last time they were tooting their horn about sales like this, it was because of Guitar Hero II's success). Call us pessimists. Still, a win is a win, and though holding the top position may be fleeting (remember, Rock Band comes out tomorrow and it's $170 bucks), we've gotta hand it to the Big A. We're sure their shareholders are doing backflips this Holiday season.
