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DJ Hero moves 1.2M units despite slow start

djhero

Activision's Dan Amrich has rustled up some numbers on DJ Hero, which at launch in the US during October 2009 only managed to move 122K units, while debuting at 20 on the UK charts the following month.

Granted, the title had only been out a week when the NPD numbers were calculated, and the same can be said for its UK debut.

Still, sales weren't as robust as hoped by Activision, leading CEO Bobby Kotick to comment: “I think DJ Hero is a really innovative product. I can’t wait for you to see next year’s... we’ll stick with it and get it right."

However, lower than expected first week sales for a high profile title and the lamentations of its publisher aside, the game has proved it has a longer shelf life than thought by the public or those in the industry.

Thanks in part to a retail cut from its previous price tag of $120, DJ Hero went on to move another 800K units during Holiday 2009, and to date, it has sold over 1.2M units - giving Activision ample reason to create a sequel.

"That's not a flop; that’s the long tail at work," wrote Dan Amrich on his blog."DJ Hero was dubbed a flop on its release... but what it needed was time for its audience to find it, a price break, and positive word from both friends and reviews to circulate."

Amrich's blog post was written in reaction to Blur being labeled "a flop" due to the low sale numbers cited in the May NPDs.

"To suggest a game is a failure because it didn’t sell hundreds of thousands of units in its first 168 hours is pretty ridiculous," wrote Amrich, suggesting folks save judgment until a game's had a chance at retail.

Fair enough. NPD releases June numbers this month, surely Blur moved more units than its first week at retail in May.

We'll find out what the numbers are soon enough.

Via Arstechnica.

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In this article

Blur

PS3, Xbox 360, PC

DJ Hero

PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, Nintendo Wii

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Stephany Nunneley-Jackson

News Editor

Stephany is VG247’s News Editor, with 22 years experience (with 15 of them at VG247). With a brain that lacks adhesive ducks, the ill-tempered, chaotic neutral fembot does her best to bring you the most interesting gaming news. She is also unofficially the site’s Lord of the Rings/Elder Scrolls Editor.

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