Analyst: New Need for Speed Will Sell 4.2 Million Units

An analyst working with Janco Partners has stated that Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, the reboot for the street racing franchise, will manage to sell about 4.2 million copies before the end of the current fiscal quarter, generating more than 185 million dollars in revenue for publisher Electronic Arts.

Mike Hickey says in an investor note that the market is ready for a solid racing experience at the moment and that the new Need for Speed has a good launch window, ahead of the much delayed Gran Turismo 5, which is now expected to be out at some point before Christmas.

The new game will also benefit from the positive sentiments that gamers have for developer Criterion, which has previously created the well received Burnout series and plans to use some of the same ideas for the new Need for Speed.

The 2010 version of Hot Pursuit is set to take the franchise back to its roots, with the players taking on the role of outlaw or cop as they try to take their rivals off the road using some of the most interesting modern cars, including an exclusive in game representation of Porsche 918 Spyder.

Unfortunately the series will still lack access to all Ferrari models, as the company is worried about its cars being used in a game which portrays infractions.

Hickey has said, “In addition, the console racing genre appears dislocated from consumer interest at the moment aside from Gran Turismo fever.”

But the analyst also warns that a good performance from Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit might lead to lower than expected sales for Need for Speed: Shift 2, which is at the moment set to arrive in March of next year.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is set to be launched on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft, the Nintendo Wii and the PC on November 16 in the United States and two days later in Europe.