Microsoft’s “family” games underperform expectations; forecasts plunge

Forecasts for Microsoft Corp’s Fuzion Frenzy 2 (Xbox 360) fell 16.25% yesterday and tumbled another 16.06% today on very disappointing sales numbers. With only an estimated 31,250 copies sold in February, the game’s stock, priced at 43.27 DKP (forecasts 432,700 copies sold globally), represented a very high 13.84 Price-to-First-Month-Sales (P/FMS) ratio. Traders sold the stock down to 36.24 DKP last night. Selling continued today, with Fuzion Frenzy 2 dropping to 30.42 DKP (forecasts 304,200 copies sold globally).

Some players had believed the game would be one of the few Xbox 360 games ideal for the younger audience. Doomkin said: “I'd say half the customers I deal with who own Xbox360s also have small children, and like Viva Pinata, will purchase this game to give the kids something to play between rounds of GoW.” Fuzion Frenzy 2 did follow in the footsteps of Viva Pinata (Xbox 360); unfortunately, the direction was down.

Viva Pinata (Xbox 360) is trading down 8.90% today to a current forecast of 482,000 copies sold globally. The game had sold 19,000 copies in February according to estimations, putting the November release title at an estimated 199,000 copies sold in North America.

Viva Pinata had seen a steep correction in December when November sales figures were well below initial expectations. Buzz for the game had built up with critically praised reviews. The title became an ideal choice for an Xbox 360 family game. Isimanica said: “I think the fact that since people are having to put so much money down for a system that in some cases people looking for a more "family" friendly game are going to pick it up. Just because they want to include the rest of the family into the investment of the game system.”

It appears the family oriented strategy is not working for Xbox 360 titles.