Microsoft anticipates 7 million-sellers this holiday, 'at least'

by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 23rd 2007 at 5:10PM }

Firing off big-headed predictions is just part of the business, but when Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg told Next-Gen that Microsoft expects to have "at least seven titles that will each sell over a million units" this holiday, maybe he wasn't being so bold -- just optimistic. "I don't think any other platform will even come close to that," Greenberg concluded. He's right. But can Xbox 360?

Let's add it up: Halo 3, yes, of course. Madden too. That's two. By year's end, BioShock also will have had plenty of time to reach the million-sold mark; and Microsoft is counting on its other big exclusive, Mass Effect, to get there too (though in considerably less time). That's four. Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, and Assassin's Creed are the three other most likelies to bring the tally to seven, but even Rock Band, The Simpsons, Orange Box, skate, Tony Hawk, PGR4, Need for Speed ProStreet, or an NBA game could move enough units -- are we missing any?

If Microsoft can win over consumers with its exclusives (and perhaps the newly proposed family plan), then Xbox 360 will also take the lion's share of multiplatform game sales, which could, remarkably, produce something like 7 different platinum-selling games during a loosely-defined holiday season. But Sony has challenged with competitively priced PlayStation 3 SKUs and will manage to produce its own lineup of exclusives in Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Ratchet, and Uncharted, plus Haze, and hopefully, if only temporarily, UT3. Of course, there's also Wii and Mario, a pair that could easily be the one-stop-shop solution for holiday gift buyers.

So were these bold words from Microsoft? No, but the goal ain't no cakewalk neither.

Tags: holiday, platinum, sales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

JanJan @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:14PM

For some strange reason, I think Master Chief can really pull off the 'Santa Hat' look.

Rob @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:16PM

Now that's some DLC I'd pay for. Bungie take note.

Brucie B @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:18PM

LOL

severian00 @ Oct 23rd 2007 9:38PM

Yes sir, I think he can Santa Chief.

Slaziman @ Oct 24th 2007 6:53AM

@Noshino

You do know that in Europe R:FOM comes bundled with the PS3 right? And that R:FOM was the only game worth buying for the PS3 for a looong time?

jc @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:28PM

That'd be quite the achievement. However, when does holiday season start? I'll go ahead and suggest after Halloween.

If 7 *different* games all hit the million mark, I think we can go ahead and call it a huge Microsoft victory.

deaftly @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:20PM

My prediction, the 360 and Wii will continue to trump the PS3 in overall console and game sales this holiday.

/obvious

jason @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:20PM

Thought i would show how great the 360's attach rate is compared to the ps3 and wii the 7 million will happen easily
http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=&console=X360&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&order=Sales
http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=&console=PS3&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&order=Sales
http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=&console=Wii&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&order=Sales

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:24PM

My life is changed.

Noshino @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:04PM

mmm, let's play with the numbers a bit shall we

Gears Of War Microsoft 8.02 4.81m
Resistance: Fall of Man Sony 8.09 1.73m
Mario Party 8 Nintendo 7.64 2.53m

Best selling games, Im not counting Halo 3 or Wii Play (Do you REALLY consider it a game?), Halo is MS's flagship game.

so you see, Gears came out almost a year ago, and thus far it has sold 4.81 mil, it not only had a quite big userbase, it also pretty much had no competition at the time, and it came out almost a year after the 360 had been released...I mean, Gears is WITHOUT A DOUBT a great game, but its sad to see that a game that set the bar higher for quality games sold this much compared to RFoM and MP8...they both pretty much had a (WAY)lower install base....

so you tell me that the guy is expecting those games to sell over a million before the end of the year...haha, I guess Moore's ego still around MS corridors huh?

Sloar @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:14PM

Noshino, you can't choose which best sellers to include and which ones to omit. If you want to take off Halo 3 and Wii Play, take off Resistance. Hmmm, that makes the PS3 numbers look even worse.

Noshino @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:23PM

Sloar,

you REALLY want to put Halo 3 there? it would make Gears look bad, something that isn't really my intention, and also, its quite unfair taking in mind that Nintendo nor Sony have released theirs (what is Sony's flagship game nowadays anyway? lol)

and as for Wii Play, it came with a freaking Wiimote, the controller itself is $40, and are you serious? do you really consider it a game? I would be surprised if the Hardcore gamers actually bought it...I mean, don't they have other games to play....hell, its pretty much Wii Sports 1.1

ninxf @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:59PM

You can't talk about the attach rate numbers without mentioning the number of consoles sold. Resistance selling 1.7 million copies isn't bad when theres only like 5 million PS3s out there.

Spartacus @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:41PM

Noshino,

I'm not quite sure what point you were trying to make... R:FOM had less competition than Gears did for a quality FPS on its respective console, so that arguement is quite moot.

The point is that MS has the most impressive lineup this holiday season and they expect to move a lot of software. I'm not sure how you could possibly disagree with that prediction.

gonk @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:20PM

anytime someone wants to "play with the numbers" they have an agenda

Agathos @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:20PM

So is the latest Haze status a PS3 exclusive or "timed" exclusive then moving to 360?

gonk @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:43PM

i think just timed exclusive, but they keep waffling back and forth on it

darkside @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:22PM

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Halo 3 already sell over 3 million copies?? They're already halfway there. (Unless they are talking about strictly "holiday" sales, which I guess would start around Thanksgiving).

Vidikron (FU) @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:38PM

They aren't saying they are going to sell a total of over 7 million copies of games... they are predictiing they will have 7 games that each sell more than 1 million.

spoo @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:46PM

Typically holiday season start late September/October for video game titles.

7 million sellers should be easy this season. I would be shocked if they don't make that goal.

Dirt @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:22PM

I'm so broke already, I guess I'll have to ask for some of these games for Christmas now.

Snatcher (MDF - Halo Ring) @ Oct 24th 2007 1:15AM

I second that. I bet the next generation of consoles will have a built in ATM. They may just sprout legs take money out of your wallet and go to the store and buy games themselves.

sinergy @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:27PM

that's a shame. i wonder why games like warhawk never caught on like halo? i mean, warhawk owns the bejesus out of halo. wtf mate!

Leobebes @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:30PM

Keep telling yourself that mate.

Vidikron (FU) @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:45PM

I actually prefer Warhawk's MP over Halo's MP too. I like the larger number of players and massive maps. Even the largest Halo maps are a small fraction of Warhawk's maps. But Halo does have a single player/co-op campaign going for it and it does have a horde of options for MP. I play Halo's MP and play with friends from time to time, but I just simply prefer the larger scale of Warhawk.

finnith @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:23PM

I would say that Warhawk and Halo are in different sub-genres of the FPS genre so saying one is better than the other is a purely subjective comment.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:57PM

Keep telling yourself that mate.

Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:34PM

I just played WarHawk for the first time today. It was a terrible experience. The maps are too large if there isn't a full room. The controls are sloppy, and I lost interest after 30 mins of playing.

ninxf @ Oct 25th 2007 2:45PM

Smoke_Dawg_187 - Umm, thats a pretty dumb comment. Of course the maps are going to be too large if there aren't the recommended number of players playing on that server. How is that different from any other game? The smart thing to do would be to look for a server that is full and play on that one.

So you played it for 30 minutes on a huge empty map and got bored, wow, way to give the game a proper shot.

Clutch_beast @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:27PM

@Darkside: Halo3 is but one million+ selling game.
@Everybody else: Viva Pinata party animals ftw.

darkside @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:30PM

Sorry but you're wrong.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6214273.html

darkside @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:32PM

That is, unless you're talking about a certain 1 version of Halo 3, but everything I've found and heard is a little over 3 million with all 3 editions combined.

dan stabbingworth @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:35PM

darkside, there are seven titles that may sell over a million copies. This is not about selling 7 million copies of all titles combined. Reread the article.

Therefore, what clutch_beast wrote ftw.

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:38PM

darkside, the point is over there! Aw, you've missed it.

darkside @ Oct 29th 2007 11:06AM

Oooohhhh, jeeez. Yea I should have taken more time to re-read the article. Hat's off to you my son.

Secura @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:35PM

Wii and Mario pretty much sums up what Nintendo has. And for some reason people are buying it.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 23rd 2007 10:12PM

Mario's not out yet. And there are many good Wii games coming out, including AAA smash hits like Mario Galaxy and 32 player online shooters with no friend codes. This Christmas Wii will do way better than last Christmas, which it also dominated.

waynski1457 @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:28PM

i think it will happen. now if they said 10 or more, i would have called no.

but all this post serves to do me is remind me that i dont have orange box yet and theres still so so so so many other awesome looking games coming out.....

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:29PM

It could happen...but I think that GHIII, COD4 and Mass Effect, in that order, are the most likely to be hurt from the crowded buying season.
Maybe Madden, too. There was that story the other day that the '08 editions sales were dreadfully low compared to last year's.

There's only so much money people have to spend...I can't see most people willingly dropping more than $200 on games. Especially this year, what with the economy starting to truly sour now. Ugh.