Analyst Predicts Good September Thanks to Gears of War 3 and Madden

[Logan Westbrook]

Analyst Predicts Good September Thanks to Gears of War 3 and Madden

A lack of big releases is getting the blame for a lackluster summer for videogame sales.

Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with Sterne Agee, thinks that July could be one of the worst months that the videogame industry has seen in a long time, with August not looking a whole lot better. September, on the other hand, should be a significant improvement, thanks in no small part to Gears of War 3.

Bhatia is basing his predictions on a lack of big release in August, and the fact that EA has changed the release date of the new Madden game - which apparently accounts for a quarter of all game sales in August - from the middle of the month, to the end. However, these sales will rollover into the next month, which - when combined with the sales of the eagerly anticipated Gears of War 3, tipped to be one of the biggest releases of the year - should see September bounce right back.

We're going to have to wait a few months to see if Bhatia is right in his predictions, but nothing he's saying sounds particularly crazy or far-fetched. Madden NFL 12 comes out for pretty much every platform you care to mention - except PC - on August 30th. Gears of War 3 comes out for the Xbox 360 on September 20th.

Source: Industry Gamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/gears-of-war-3-should-help-industry-climb-out-of-summer-doldrums/]


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[Doc Theta Sigma]

Well that's the drunken frat boy demographic taken care of.

 

[slarrs]

Did you know that when no games come out, no one buys games?

 

[mjc0961]

Did you know that when no games come out, no one buys games?

Really?! I had no idea. It's a good thing the industry has so many overpaid analysts to sit there with their thumbs up their butts stating the obvious. "Hurr, sales r bad in july n august cuz no gaems, september will be better cuz sum gamez r cuming!"

Thanks a ton Arvind Bhatia, you're right up there with Pachter on the useless scale.

 

[Tarakos]

Huh, thank you analyst person for telling me that nothing came out this summer. Nothing ever comes out this time of the year, no damn surprise. The only think coming out soon is Deus Ex, and that's at the very end of summer.

 

[Jadak]

Did you know that when no games come out, no one buys games?

Not really true...

Believe it or not, some people do buy games on days other than their release date.

 

[Rawne1980]

Madden?

We have a games drought every year around this time it's nothing new.

Deus Ex in 15 days .... 1 day before my birthday.

Wonder if my missus will buy me that or socks.

 

[LorienvArden]

Well that was one unsignificant brainfart let loose.

No releases in August ?
8.8 : Trauma
15.8 : Space Pirates and Zombies
16.8 : Bastion
17.8 : From Dust

And thats only steam.
No shiny AAA 60$ Moneygrabs with always on DRM and about 6 hours of content in one month doesn't mean there are no releases.
If sales are "lackluster" for publishers like EA who rely on carbon copies of one freaking game for 25 % of their sales in a month, then I think it's time to break out the champaign and start celebrating.
While the big dogs mourn about sales, indies release amazing games with the potential to glue us to our seats for days.

Btw, Terarria is currently No.4 in the most played Steam games, with COD beeing No 6 and 7