Grooski on 14 April 2009
The year head start is key. Lets try looking at just those games that were released in 2008 onwards to see how this third party support is developing.
Games released since 01 Jan 2008:
| Nintendo | ||||
| 4 | Guitar Hero: World Tour | 2008 | Activision | 2.83m |
| 7 | Game Party | 2008 | Midway Games | 1.97m |
| 8 | Deca Sports | 2008 | Hudson Entertainment | 1.82m |
| 15 | We Ski | 2008 | Namco Bandai | 1.35m |
| 16 | Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party | 2008 | Ubisoft | 1.33m |
| 18 | Rock Band | 2008 | MTV Games | 1.30m |
| 20 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | 2008 | LucasArts | 1.23m |
| 24 | Big Beach Sports | 2008 | THQ | 1.19m |
| 27 | Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures | 2008 | LucasArts | 1.14m |
| 28 | Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip | 2008 | Ubisoft | 1.13m |
| 29 | Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | Activision Blizzard | 1.07m |
| 30 | Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.07m |
| 31 | Active Life: Outdoor Challenge | 2008 | Namco Bandai | 1.04m |
| Microsoft | ||||
| 1 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | 2008 | Activision | 7.25m |
| 2 | Grand Theft Auto IV | 2008 | Rockstar Games | 6.97m |
| 3 | Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | Activision Blizzard | 5.28m |
| 6 | Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures | 2008 | LucasArts | 3.22m |
| 7 | Kung Fu Panda | 2008 | Activision | 2.80m |
| 15 | Madden NFL 09 | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 2.27m |
| 16 | Fallout 3 | 2008 | Bethesda Softworks | 2.27m |
| 19 | Left 4 Dead | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 2.08m |
| 21 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 | 2008 | Ubisoft | 1.97m |
| 22 | Sega Superstars Tennis | 2008 | Sega | 1.96m |
| 27 | Guitar Hero: World Tour | 2008 | Activision | 1.89m |
| 28 | FIFA Soccer 09 | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.77m |
| 30 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | 2008 | LucasArts | 1.67m |
| 33 | Rock Band 2 | 2008 | MTV Games | 1.56m |
| 34 | Resident Evil 5 | 2008 | Capcom | 1.50m |
| 35 | Army of Two | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.45m |
| 39 | Far Cry 2 | 2008 | Ubisoft | 1.35m |
| 41 | Saints Row 2 | 2008 | THQ | 1.31m |
| 42 | Need for Speed: Undercover | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.26m |
| 45 | Soul Calibur IV | 2008 | Namco Bandai | 1.14m |
| 47 | Devil May Cry 4 | 2008 | Capcom | 1.11m |
| 48 | Battlefield: Bad Company | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.10m |
| Sony | ||||
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto IV | 2008 | Rockstar Games | 5.55m |
| 2 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | 2008 | Activision | 4.19m |
| 3 | Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | 2008 | Konami | 3.91m |
| 5 | Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | Activision Blizzard | 3.16m |
| 6 | FIFA Soccer 09 | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 2.10m |
| 7 | PES 2009: Pro Evolution Soccer | 2008 | Konami | 1.92m |
| 11 | Resident Evil 5 | 2008 | Capcom | 1.65m |
| 13 | Madden NFL 09 | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.56m |
| 14 | Fallout 3 | 2008 | Bethesda | 1.36m |
| 15 | Devil May Cry 4 | 2008 | Capcom | 1.26m |
| 16 | Need for Speed: Undercover | 2008 | Electronic Arts | 1.25m |
| 17 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | 2008 | LucasArts | 1.15m |
| 18 | Guitar Hero: World Tour | 2008 | Activision | 1.14m |
| 20 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 | 2008 | Ubisoft | 1.08m |
Third party Million Sellers since 01-Jan-08
| Microsoft | Sony | Nintendo | |
| Since 2008 | 22 | 14 | 13 |
| Total | 50 | 20 | 32 |
| 2008 % of Total | 44 | 70 | 41 |
As you can see, with 70% of Sony's third party million sellers releasing in the last 15 months, they are the company with greatest increasing third party sales momentum. Microsoft is selling more software and in absolute terms, maintains the strongest third party support, but Sony's figures show they are beginning to increase rapidly.
This is precisely why Microsoft is finding it hard to buy third party exclusives of late.
