EA: Rock Band Inventory Won't Meet Overwhelming Demand

In its fiscal second quarter 2007 call to investors, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said that the company was unlikely to meet overwhelming demand for Harmonix's EA-distributed Rock Band title through the holiday season into year-end. Noting that the music game battle is "not a sprint," Riccitiello explicitly stated regarding the $169 game/peripheral bundle, as part of the call: "We won't be able to put up enough inventory to meet the demand of this fiscal or calendar year." "On the 19th of November I would get in line outside your favorite retailer, because we’ve got one hot product, we have a lot of inventory coming -- and my expectation is that it will sell through," he said, adding that the subsequent European launch at the end of Q4 is anticipated to be "similarly strong." EA expects overwhelming demand for the title at the time of its November release, and Riccitiello suggested that purchasers who don't pick up Rock Band at launch time "...won't be getting one for Christmas, unless you know someone at one of our retailers."