EA has "largely missed this console generation" - Creutz
NFS: Shift, Dead Space Wii and Dragon Age sales estimates lowered by analyst
Electronic Arts has "largely missed" the current generation of home consoles with its wholly-owned intellectual properties, according to Cowan and Company's Doug Creutz.
The analyst believes that Need for Speed: Shift, Dead Space: Extraction and Dragon Age: Origins will all under perform at retail, with the latest in its racing franchise expected to sell less than 900,000 units in the US in its first year of release.
Based on channel checks, Creutz has also lowered sales expectations of new BioWare project Dragon Age: Origins by 550,000 units to less than 1.5 million.
"We continue to believe that EA has largely missed this console cycle, and despite recent speculation, we believe it is highly unlikely that EA will be an acquisition target due to a variety of factors," wrote Creutz.
However, Cowan believes that the recently released The Beatles Rock Band, distributed by EA, will outsell Guitar Hero 5 in the US, selling over 3.5 million units in the region, while Rock Band 2 is expected to sell roughly 2.2 million.