Music games on the decline, Guitar Hero outsells Rock Band 3-to-1

Have music games struck their last high note? Sales numbers indicate that music games are past its peak. According to the sales reports from November, sales of Guitar Hero have declined. Rock Band managed to grow, but since Guitar Hero outsold it 3-to-1, it fails to spark much hope for the music genre.

Have music games struck their last high note? Sales numbers indicate that music games are past its peak, as analysts have been predicting recently.

 According to the sales reports from November, sales of Guitar Hero have declined. Rock Band managed to grow, but since Guitar Hero whipped its opponent in terms of sales, it still fails to spark hope for the music genre.

For November, Guitar Hero (360, PS3, Wii) overall outsold Rock Band by 2-to-1 in terms of dollars, and 3-to-1 in terms of units sold. Its half-hearted success though, as explained by UBS analyst Ben Schachter:

The biggest concern around Guitar Hero has to be the fact that Guitar Hero World Tour (12 SKUs) declined 48% in units and 31% in dollars from Guitar Hero III (6 SKUs) on a year-over-year basis.

This will fuel concerns that the genre is past its peak. With Activision and others sure to bring new innovation to the genre next year we can’t count it out, but it almost certainly won’t be the growth driver it has been over the past two years.

Which doesn’t mean that the music genre is about to die off anytime soon. It’s just over the hill. The NPD Group’s Anita Frazier gives her two cents: “The music / dance genre is [still] very, very strong and remains one of the leading causes of growth in software dollar sales this year.” Well sure, considering you need to buy the peripherals along with the game.

• Chad Kroeger: set down the Guitar Hero, learn how to play an actual guitar
• Survey says: Rock Band and Guitar Hero turns gamers into musicians

Via GameDaily.biz