2m F1 sales raises bar for 2011

Hopes are high for F1 2011 after sales of its predecessor passed the two million barrier months before the new game is released.

F1 2010 has sold more than 2.3m units globally, with 540,000 copies purchased in the UK alone.

Codemasters’ racer even picked up the prize for Sales Triumph at the 2011 MCV Industry Excellence Awards last month.

It’s fair to say that it surpassed expectations,” communications manager Andy Gray told MCV.

Hopefully we’ll keep this up for this year’s game.”
He went on to reflect that the game’s accomplishment is even more impressive given the challenges of reaching the target audience.

There is a disconnect between the games market for games and that of F1 – although the sport itself is attracting a younger audience now,” said Gray.

There was also a perception that F1 was in freefall as a games franchise as sales of the Sony titles had tailed off over the years.

We have some cool things up our sleeve [this year]. We have learnt a great deal in the couple of years we have been working with the licence which can only benefit the game.”

F1 2011 is due for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on September 29th.