NPD Group’s Anita Frazier has cast a grim outlook on the formerly booming music game market, revealing that sales are down 46% from last year. Although things are bleak, it’s not all bad, since music games are still top sellers and the recent release ofThe Beatles: Rock BandandGuitar Hero 5may re-energize things.
“Whilesalesof this genre are down 46% year-to-date,” explains Frazier, “unitsalesare down much less because lower prices are playing into the dollarsalesdecline. It’s still the third best-selling genre for the year after General Action and Multiple/Other Sports (where Wii Fit resides).”
Given the saturation of the music game genre, it’s hardly surprising that sales are down. Evil publisher Activision releases severalGuitar Herogames a year, and then there’sRock Band,SingStar, and plenty of bottom-shelf “me too” games that aren’t important enough to be mentioned. We simply don’t need all these plastic peripheral music games, and even of the ones we do need, there are too many spin-offs and sequels.
I hope the industry cools its jets before the bottom falls out of the whole thing. The mainstream market has a ridiculous tolerance for things, but there is always a breaking point.
