Rock Band will be in short supply, says EA CEO

via Games Industry


Speaking to investors during a conference call, EA CEO John Riccitiello said that he was "highly confident" in Rock Band and didn't expect to be able to meet demand for the game.

"If I were you, on the nineteenth of November, I would get in line outside your favourite retailer, because we've got one hot product," Riccitiello said.

The game, which he described as a "band in a box," will retail for USD 169 when it launches for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 19 in the US. A slightly cheaper PS2 version, at USD 159, will be released in December.

"We've got a lot of inventory coming. My expectation is that it will sell through," Riccitiello said.

EA will follow with a European launch at the end of Q4, and expects the game to be similarly strong there.

"This is definitely not a sprint. We're not going to be able to put enough inventory to meet demand in North America or Europe this calendar year or this fiscal [year], but we expect this to sell through both the balance of FY 08 and through FY 09, with songs coming every week, add-on SKUs, all sorts of stuff."

EA should have also made a version without the guitar because the majority of people that will buy Rock Band will also have a guitar from Guitar Hero. This would have made the game $50 or so cheaper, which would also increase sales.