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Speaking to VideoGamer.com on the back of the Need for Speed franchise reaching 100 million units sold, Keith Munro, Vice President Global Marketing for Electronic Arts, revealed that the recently released racing simulation Need for Speed Shift has met the publisher’s sales expectations.
“I think it’s done pretty much what we had expected. As you know, it’s the first Need for Speed game in many years to launch into the September window, traditionally we launch in November, the holiday window. So we’re excited yes,” said Munro. “Great reviews and the quality is very high, and people are really enjoying playing Shift. We have it out there longer so it has more of a chance in the marketplace in its opening year.”
Responding to gamer reaction to Shift failing to make the September NPD Top 10 in the US – leading to some suggestion that the game had flopped – Munro said: “First of all, the sales numbers, we’re actually pretty proud of the numbers it’s done, because it launched into a different window. We’re typically the holiday racing title, so there’s a lot of retraining that has to be done to make people aware of our launch. It’s actually hitting a similar number for the days in the market in North America as what we shipped last year, in the holiday window, which is a much higher sales period.
“So it’s not that concerning actually to us and as I said earlier, it’s meeting our expectations. Down the road we will be evaluating the performance of Shift. We want to be having a lot of conversations with consumers about what they loved and what they would change, and there is definitely potential for us to consider sequeling that title.”
Regarding plans to extend the life span of the first entry in the NFS Shift series, Munro wasn’t willing to confirm any DLC.
“I’m not allowed to talk about that [laughs],” he said.
“We are trying to work on what we feel… we don’t want to just create more content just for the sake of it. We’re trying to create stuff that is highly additive, whether for Shift or even ideas for future projects. So TBD, but we have people thinking right now.”
For more on what’s in store for the Need for Speed franchise head over to our exclusive interview with Keith Munro.
