Guitar Hero III the First Game to $1 Billion In Sales

The Opposable Thumbs blog reports that Guitar Hero III has reached a financial milestone, becoming the first individual video game to reach $1 billion in total sales. The number is even higher if you consider the rest of the franchise. In addition to helping drive the video game industry during tough economic times (much like the Wii), it's helping other industries as well: "... aside from the fact that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith had sold three times as many copies as the band's last album during their respective first weeks, musicians whose music is featured in the game has seen a rise in music sales to the tune of 15-843 percent." And CVG notes, "... two-thirds of non-musicians exposed to music games plan to start playing a real instrument in the next couple of years." Also, Rock Band creator Harmonix may be looking into a partnership with the record labels to sell music for use outside of the games.

New musician because of Guitar Hero

[AdamWeeden]

I can definitely speak to Guitar Hero inspiring musicianship and boosting sales of real guitar equipment. Since playing Guitar Hero for the first time, less than a year ago, I have purchased 2 guitars, 2 amps, a plethora of accessories and quite a bit in instruction. I've been playing now for about 6 months and love every minute of it, even practice. Not as easy as Guitar Hero is (obviously), but so much more rewarding when you learn a new lick on a real guitar than when you perfect a song on GH, IMHO.

Re:Two dwarves in a trenchcoat

[antic]

Surely it's difficult to sell something that's twice the price (because of the required peripheral) of other games? I'll complain about $90 games but had no qualms about paying $180 for a game and two dorky plastic guitars. That's pretty impressive.

I think $1b is a milestone worth noting.

Re:Not just a game

[Artraze]

Everyone seems fond of pointing this out, along with listing a bunch of other games that sold more copies. The thing is, however, that that isn't the point. Cheaper games _should_ sell more because of where they hit the demand curve. The point is that despite requiring somewhat pricey peripherals it still sold enough copies to reach $1 billion, and that's impressive. It's even more so when you consider that many people are buying this over 2 other games (due to increased price); that's why using total revenue is actually a useful benchmark.

Finally, I would point out that since guitars from previous versions work with III, a large percentage of people only needed to buy the software, not the bundle. So if you don't believe the above, than realize that 60% or so of those sales are at the standard game price.

Plans? Only plans?

[mattbee]

"... two-thirds of non-musicians exposed to music games plan to start playing a real instrument in the next couple of years"

Uh, yeah, and I am planning to have a brick barbequeue, jacuzzi, fake beach and year-round soft fruit crops on my allotment in the next couple of years.

I'll be pleased if I actually get rid of all the weeds :)