Tony Hawk: Shred Hits the Pavement Hard in First Week; EA's MMA and DJ Hero 2 Sales Start Slow

Last month, Tony Hawk: Shread developer Robomodo was hit with a wave of layoffs, reportedly letting go up to 60 employees. In the same fell swoop, it was revealed that Activision's eleven-year-old franchise would no longer be helmed by the slimmer team at Robomodo.

Today, Tony Hawk news isn't getting any less grim as investment firm Cowen and Company--speaking with GamesIndustry.biz--revealed that Tony Hawk: Shred sold 3,000 copies in the United States within its first week of availability.

The firm also noted that DJ Hero 2 and EA Sports MMA have gotten off to slow starts, pushing 59,000 and 45,000 units, respectively, out the door.

Tony Hawk: Shred

According to Cowan and Company, the low 6 percent in software growth for the month of October was largely due to slowed sales of previous highlights, specifically Halo: Reach and EA's NHL 11.

In the September NPD release, NHL 11 was fourth on the Top Ten combined-platform sales list, but failed to appear on the list in October. Microsoft announced that Halo: Reach sold 315K units in October, whereas the title sold 3.3 million units in its first month of sale.

Robomodo is a privately-owned, Chicago-based studio. It was formed by former employees of EA's (now defunct) Chicago studio in 2008. Yesterday, Activision revealed it was "exploring [its] options regarding the future" of Bizarre Creations and did not rule out a potential sale. At the same time, the company confirmed it had closed Iowa-based Budcat Creations and announced it was "implementing a targeted reduction in jobs in [its] Quality Assurance team."