Music genre plummets by 75% in two years

The value of the console music genre has decreased by a massive 75 per cent in the last two years, according to a new study.

Gamasutra reckons the genre – which includes titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band – was worth over $16bn in 2008. In 2010 that figure is unlikely to reach $400m.

The site blames both a general loss of interest amongst consumers as well as a reluctance to buy into a genre in which products are priced far higher than normal games.

And of course, what is not known is how much of this revenue retail has lost to detail, with plenty now being spent on in-game DLC purchases.

Back in 2008 the music genre looked to be taking the console games world by storm, with claims that it had cemented its position ahead of sports to become the second most popular genre behind action.

However, come September 2009 NPD was warning that the genre had slumped 46 per cent year-on-year. Just a month before Guitar Hero publisher Activision admitted that sales of its music games were down significantly” on the year before.

Nonetheless, there are some who still believe in the genre.

Harmonix, for instance, who is regarded by many as the leading light of music games (having created Guitar Hero, gone on to develop Rock Band and also crafted the recent Kinect hit Dance Central) said in January that it absolutely does not believe that rhythm-action gaming has reached its peak”.

Despite its continued mastery of the genre, however (with its latest release Rock Band 3 scoring 10/10 review scores from both Edge and Eurogamer), Harmonix was put up for sale by its owner Viacom earlier this month.