Rock Band 2 sales near 2 million, franchise ships 10 million

As part of its year-end earnings announcement today, MTV Games' parent company Viacom corroborated NPD's findings, saying in a postearnings conference call that Rock Band 2 has sold nearly 2 million units worldwide on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Wii through the end of December. Nevertheless, Viacom said that the tally came in below its internal expectations.

"The soft retail environment definitely weighed on sales of our consumer products, particularly during the fourth quarter," said Tom Dooley, executive vice president and CFO of Viacom. "This also impacted sales of Rock Band, which has a relatively high price point. That, however, does not diminish the franchise's great success so far. Rock Band was the number-one game title for 2008 by revenue across all game genres, with more than 10 million units shipped worldwide since its launch."

Dooley went on to say that a growing number of consumers are picking up Rock Band 2 as a standalone game, rather than springing for the game's bundle that also includes a microphone, drum kit, and guitar. "This shift will impact our revenue growth, but it will also improve profitability," Dooley noted.

On the whole, Viacom's Media Networks segment--of which MTV Games' Rock Band is a part--saw revenues climb 8 percent during the fiscal year to $8.75 billion. The media conglomerate attributed a portion of its climbing revenues to increased sales of the Rock Band franchise. However, the division's operating income slipped 10 percent compared to a year before, falling to $2.73 billion.