NBA 2K13 Opens With Huge Sales Surge

It isn’t just the recent EA Sports titles that are finding success on the market lately. Having released earlier this month NBA 2K13 is tracking 49% ahead of NBA 2K11.

Given that 2K12 arrived during the league lockout it was important to use 2K11 as the barometer as it held the previous high mark in sales for the series. 2K13 is surpassing even the most optimistic expectations and shows no signs of slowing down.

If that trend holds NBA 2K13 will be looking at a total of about 1.6 million for the month of October. It’s a huge number, one that many believed the NBA could never reach even when multiple products representing the league were on the market. 2K11 extraordinarily expanded the reach by double and made it a cultural factor and now 2K13 has taken that number, which was 1.1 million for its first month, and looks to be increasing it by nearly another 50%.

Certainly positive word of mouth and largely enthusiastic reviews played into 2K13’s success but there is a lot more to it now. Where Michael Jordan and a historic focus provided a boost to 2K11 by drawing in consumers who may not have normally purchased a basketball game, having Jay-Z to influence and promote the product with his tremendous reach has attracted another previously untapped crowd. The release of NBA 2K every year has now become an event the relevance of which can only be matched by Madden and FIFA in the sports world. No other series even comes close to those three.

Where 2K11 really excelled was with its legs. It was in the top 10 of video game sales for nine consecutive months. 2K13 will likely be more front-loaded given that it’s not just being discovered and has long since arrived, but it will have the opportunity to make its presence felt through the entire season and should be expected to do just that.