Activision has announced it was the No. 1 console and hand-held publisher in the U.S. for the month of October, according to numbers generated by the NPD Group.
Powered by the release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the company saw its U.S. market share increase to a record 28.7 percent. Despite being released only a few days prior to the end of the month, Guitar Hero III was the top-selling title across all consoles in the U.S. in October, and is also the first third-party title ever to reach the top of the sales chart for the Nintendo Wii.
“The Guitar Hero franchise has only scratched the surface of its potential since it was previously only available for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems and the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft,” said Activision CEO Robert Kotick. “Despite having significantly increased our production capabilities for the holiday, there is still a high likelihood that we will not be able to meet demand for this game on every platform.”
NPD numbers indicate the game sold over 8 million units worldwide in October, and the game’s availability on the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii make it the only music game available on all major game consoles. Activision reported earlier in November that the Guitar Hero III release was the biggest launch in the company’s history, breaking $115 million in its first week of release.
