Analyst: Guitar Hero Has Reached its Peak
Analysts often say things that most people don’t take seriously, but this analyst is talking some damn sense: the Guitar Hero brand is “reaching its peak”, according to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divinich.
“Currently, we expect [World Tour] unit sales to decline by more than 50 percent series-over-series for November. This is coming off the October month where series-over-series units declined by more than 60 percent,” said Divinich.
Divinich further pointed out sub-retail prices of Guitar Hero World Tour – the fourth game in the series – as an indication that “demand and supply are currently in equilibrium.” While he believes the series has reached its peak, Divinich notes that it doesn’t mean the whole plastic guitar-playing fad will fade away – just the rapid expansion of its growth has burned out.
“We expect Guitar Hero and Rock Band releases for the next 10 years as they will always have a large and loyal market base, just as [Dance Dance Revolution] is still today a very profitable franchise for Konami, even though that series reached its peak a long time ago,” he explained.