Rock Band has officially joined the ranks of Guitar Hero, in generating over $1 billion in sales, MTV and publisher partner EA announced today.

The press release is padded with some interesting statistics, notably that approximately 40 million individual songs from an ever-expanding library of over 600 have been bought and downloaded as of this month. While the figure stated here does not denote pure revenue, even by bringing development costs into the mix, you have to figure they made a rather nice profit. I mean, one billion, c’mon.

Hit the break for more fun facts regarding the retail performance of Rock Band.

Sales

— Rock Band(R) franchise has officially surpassed $1 billion dollars in
North American retail sales in 15 months, according to the NPD Group
— Rock Band was the #1 title of 2008 by revenue across all game genres
(NPD)

Music / Downloadable Content

— 614 songs offered via the Rock Band platform, both on-disc and in-game
music store, as of March 24, 2009
— 269 different artists / bands offered via Rock Band franchise as of
March 24, 2009
— Over 40 million paid songs have been sold via download since Rock Band
launched on November 20, 2007
— 11 albums released to date via the Rock Band platform including AC/DC
Live, The Cars, Judas Priest, Pixies, Motley Crue, Foo Fighters, Red Hot
Chili Peppers, Megadeth, Rush, No Doubt and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as well
as special compilations from The Who, Nirvana, The Grateful Dead, Boston
and more

Critical Acclaim

— Average Metacritic score of 92(2) for both Rock Band and Rock Band 2
— Rock Band and Rock Band 2 have garnered more than 50 industry awards
including:
— IGN’s “Best Music/Rhythm Game of 2008”
— Gamespot.com’s Editor’s Choice Winner for “Best
Rhythm / Music Game of 2008”
— Spike TV’s 2008 Video Game Award Winner for “Best Music
Game” and “Best Soundtrack in a Game”
— Gametrailers.com “Best Music and Rhythm Game 2008”
— PlayStation: The Official Magazine’s “Best Rhythm Game of
2008”
— Yahoo’s “Best Party Game of the Year – 2008” and
named one of Yahoo’s “Best Tech Products of 2008”
— G4 TV’s X-Play “Best Music Game of 2008”
— Named as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “Entertainers of
the Year 2008”
— Called “Best party game of the year” by the Associated
Press
— Named as one of USA Today’s “Top Video Games of 2008”
— Cited as one of MSNBC.com’s Top Video Games of 2008 and one of
the Best Xbox 360 Games of 2008
— Heralded as “hands down the best party game ever” by Time
magazine and named as one of Time’s Top Video Games of 2008

Rock Band Franchise Innovations

— First full band music video game to hit consoles
— First music video game to offer export of content library from disc and
cross compatibility of downloadable content (DLC) in sequel games.
— First music video game to offer weekly downloadable content (averaging
more than 3 songs per week since its launch on November 20, 2007)
— Lead the way for full compatibility and interoperability between
competing peripherals
— First music video game to allow for export of avatars and other game
data to create real life merchandise
— First music video game to offer full albums as downloadable content:
Judas Priest’s “Screaming for Vengeance,” released in
June 2008
— First music game to offer a new song day-and-date with its release to
radio, with Motley Crue’s “Saints of Los Angeles”

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