IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to Sell 4.2 Million, Generate $185 Million, says Analyst

Posted November 4, 2010 by James Brightman

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit ships in about two weeks, and it could be a huge title this holiday season for Electronic Arts. The folks at Criterion (Burnout) will be bringing the series back to its roots with cops and car chases. That's expected to resonate with fans, as Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey believes EA will sell around 4.2 million units, generating sales of $185 million this holiday. 

Hickey notes that "the delay of Gran Turismo 5 will likely benefit the holiday sales performance of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit... but could challenge the planned release of SHIFT 2."

Indeed, Hickey sees the release of SHIFT 2 as a bigger problem: "We expect the fiscal Q4’11 planned release of Need for Speed: SHIFT 2 (we’re modeling for nearly $100 million in sales) could miss a gear or two; particularly as the franchise’s planned iteration pacing seemed exceptionally awkward."

Hickey added that the "console racing genre appears dislocated from consumer interest at the moment aside from Gran Turismo fever."

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.