News
Here Are the Top 30 Franchises of 2008
Guitar Hero and Rock Band Make a Mario Bros. Sandwich
by Sarah
Were you curious about the top video game brands of 2008? You don’t have to answer; I know you were. Luckily, an industry report (via Joystiq) reveals the top 30 grossing franchises of last year, which many agree was one of the best years for video games ever. There are a lot of returning champions, like Activision, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, and even Microsoft managed to sneak in there. Notably absent, however, is Sony, with not one top-grossing franchise. Ouch.
1. Guitar Hero (Activision Blizzard) $ 992 million
2. Mario Brothers (Nintendo) $ 761 million
3. Rock Band (Electronic Arts) $ 662 million
4. Call Of Duty (Activision Blizzard) $ 446 million
5. Wii Fit (Nintendo) $ 407 million
6. Grand Theft Auto (Take-Two Interactive) $ 361 million
7. Madden Football (Electronic Arts) $ 312 million
8. Wii Play (Nintendo) $ 261 million
9. LEGO (LucasArts) $ 224 million
10. Star Wars (LucasArts) $ 180 million
11. Sonic (Sega) $ 163 million
12. Gears Of War (Microsoft) $ 146 million
13. The Sims (Electronic Arts) $ 143 million
14. Tom Clancy (Ubisoft) $ 130 million
15. Pokemon (Nintendo) $ 119 million
16. Need For Speed (Electronic Arts) $ 106 million
17. Warcraft (Activision Blizzard) $ 104 million
18. WWE (THQ) $ 103 million
19. Fallout (Bethesda Softworks) $ 100 million
20. NCAA Football (Electronic Arts) $ 94 million
21. Tiger Woods (Electronic Arts) $ 89 million
22. FIFA (Electronic Arts) $ 79 million
23. Imagine (Ubisoft) $ 78 million
24. Final Fantasy (Square Enix) $ 78 million
25. Dance Dance Revolution (Konami) $ 78 million
26. Metal Gear Solid (Konami) $ 77 million
27. Fable (Microsoft) $ 77 million
28. NBA Live (Electronic Arts) $ 71 million
29. Mortal Kombat (Midway Games) $ 70 million
30. Petz (Ubisoft) $ 70 million
It’s kind of disappointing to see Guitar Hero outshining Rock Band, but keep in mind that no less than six GH games were released in 2008 (including DS installments, cell phone versions, and the Aerosmith expansion), compared to Rock Band 2 and Rock Band AC/DC (and the DLC, some of which was put on disc for those without online capabilities). Also, how is it that not one Sony franchise (including the much hyped Resistance 2, which came out late last year) could crack $70 million, but both Petz and Sonic are on this list?
Comments
Yeah, Sonic being so high up there is a surprise. I know Sega had 4 Sonic games come out last year, but I didn't think any of them sold particularly well.
And The Sims?!? All they released was a couple of My Sims games. Really?!?!
And is there any overlap in the LEGO franchise and the Star Wars franchise, both owned by Lucas Arts? "Shenanigans" I say!
huh... i can't really say i'm too surprised about any of these
@loltim: Don't forget that people were still buying the Sims 2 expansion packs. Hell, they're probably still buying them.
Also, PETZ?! Really people? Just look at the dog's face, even he's embarrassed by the whole thing.
Don't be a Guitar Queero when you can Imagine the possibilities of being part of a Fable, in which you can be a part of the NBA (Live!) and take care of some Petz. Also; don't forget to clock into work after the Fallout occurs and you're forced to hang out with the Mario Brothers and their new friend Sonic.