For the first time in a decade, Electronics Arts has been ousted from it’s number one spot as the top third party publisher. Who was the one to kick them from the throne? Activision was, another industry heavyweight from ‘back in the day.'
EA and Activision have been going at it for decades but EA has held their number one spot for a very long time but it’s good to see they’re not untouchable. Industry professionals have accused Electronic Arts of producing nothing but cookie cutter sequels especially in their sports franchise. Could gamers be agreeing with their wallets?
The final numbers for as of June as reported by NPD Group show Activision with $387.8 million in sales for 2007 while Electronic Arts has $365.7 million in sales. Much of Activision’s success lies in it’s Guitar Hero franchise as well as Tony Hawk and Call of Duty with it’s movie licenses also selling extremely well with Spiderman, Shrek and Transformers all in the first half of 2007.
Though Activision has the upper hand now, looking forward through the end of the year, it looks like Electronic Arts is going to be comfortably seated back on it’s throne. Here’s what the major title lineup looks like for the two companies through 2007 :
If the talk coming from E3 is any indication, it seems like Rock Band is going to destroy Guitar Hero 3 this winter. So Activision’s fastest selling franchise may be going down in a big way. For shooters, Activison has EA this winter, they don’t have anything in the lineup that is going to compete will against Call of Duty 4. The best thing they have is a port of Half-Life. Army of Two looks quite interesting but it’s a new IP so how well will it do among the rest of the fall/winter lineup with Microsoft, THQ, 2K and UbiSoft. It may be a bad time to try and launch something brand new.
All in all hats off for Activision for kicking Electronic Arts from their throne all be it for what looks like a short lived reign.
EA and Activision have been going at it for decades but EA has held their number one spot for a very long time but it’s good to see they’re not untouchable. Industry professionals have accused Electronic Arts of producing nothing but cookie cutter sequels especially in their sports franchise. Could gamers be agreeing with their wallets?
The final numbers for as of June as reported by NPD Group show Activision with $387.8 million in sales for 2007 while Electronic Arts has $365.7 million in sales. Much of Activision’s success lies in it’s Guitar Hero franchise as well as Tony Hawk and Call of Duty with it’s movie licenses also selling extremely well with Spiderman, Shrek and Transformers all in the first half of 2007.
Though Activision has the upper hand now, looking forward through the end of the year, it looks like Electronic Arts is going to be comfortably seated back on it’s throne. Here’s what the major title lineup looks like for the two companies through 2007 :
| -- Electronic Arts -- | -- Activision -- |
| Madden 08 | Tony Hawk |
| Medal of Honor | Guitar Hero 3 |
| Half Life 2 | Call of Duty 4 |
| Mercenaries 2 | Army of Two |
| Rock Band |
If the talk coming from E3 is any indication, it seems like Rock Band is going to destroy Guitar Hero 3 this winter. So Activision’s fastest selling franchise may be going down in a big way. For shooters, Activison has EA this winter, they don’t have anything in the lineup that is going to compete will against Call of Duty 4. The best thing they have is a port of Half-Life. Army of Two looks quite interesting but it’s a new IP so how well will it do among the rest of the fall/winter lineup with Microsoft, THQ, 2K and UbiSoft. It may be a bad time to try and launch something brand new.
All in all hats off for Activision for kicking Electronic Arts from their throne all be it for what looks like a short lived reign.
