Beatles: Rock Band sales hit 1.7m

Global sales of MTV’s The Beatles: Rock Band now stand at 1.7m, four months after it was first released on September 9th 2009.

That’s according to the LA Times, which reports that Viacom’s executive VP of games Scott Guthrie is pleased with the holiday sales, though he noted that some European markets performed below the company’s expectations”.

By comparison, Rock Band 2 had sold the same amount of games in North America alone after four months. Sales of MTV’s Beatles games in America currently stand at 1.18m.

Guthrie did add, though, that margins have been better on The Beatles version than they are on Rock Band because more people are buying the standalone software and not the plastic instruments – Viacom is still losing money on every accessory sold.

He goes on to say the 1m songs have so far been purchased on the game’s digital store.

Big things were expected of The Beatles: Rock Band, which was precisely times to release alongside the band’s digitally remastered albums. Though we don’t know the precise number, Viacom is said to have paid a huge licensing fee to get the Fab Four on board.