MCV transforms UK Top Ten by adding digital data into the physical charts

Last week’s ‘official’ UK Top 10 chart would have been totally different if digital sales figures were taken into account.

Key sources have shared data with MCV that underlines the disparity between ‘official’ charts and the still unmeasured digital world.

The pressure is now mounting on the industry as a whole - publishers, format holders, data trackers and trade bodies - to start offering this kind of insight on a regular basis.

If the UK charts included digital sales data, last week an entirely new IP would have been No.1 - the Paradox-published Cities: Skylines. The game sold 60,000 copies over 10 days in the UK alone.

Elsewhere, indie sequel Hotline Miami 2 would have been at No. 4.

One other new IP would have cracked the Top 10 on digital sales alone: Ori and the Blind Forest on Steam and Xbox One.

Second-week digital sales of Sniper Elite spin-off Zombie Army Trilogy – UK studio Rebellion’s first self-published game on console – actually push the title up the chart when download numbers are paired with boxed figures. Minecraft gets a similar lift.

The UK trade has been talking up a digital chart for years. But efforts by both Chart-Track and UKIE have stumbled as they failed to secure the support of 100 per cent of publishers.

However, MCV put the chart on this page together over just a few days with input, data and guidance from the likes of Paradox Interactive and Rebellion, plus off-the-record guidance from retail sources wishing to remain anonymous for now.

So MCV will do the counting for you

Until a formal solution is offered for better showing the health of software sales in the UK, MCV is committed to offering a substitute.

Going forward, we hope to start publishing regular charts accurately taking into account digital sales like the one above.

Using a variety of sources, we will try to accurately portray a total measure of games sales in the UK, across both boxed and digital.

We do not guarantee 100 per cent accuracy from day one – but what we do promise is to start bringing some unity on the otherwise separated and fractured data sources in the business.

If you’d like to contribute to this new initiative, contact MCV editor Chris Dring atcdring@nbmedia.com. Data will be kept confidential at all times and used only to aggregate Top 10 or Top 20 rankings.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/cities-skylines-was-last-week-s-no-1-game-but-nobody-was-counting/0147206

interesting. it doesnt seem to be 100% accurate but they seem confident in their numbers and will give us a good idea of how much sales are on the digital side.

Is Cities Skyline a full priced game?

I support this move. As a person who buys games digitally 100%, it is great to know how that market breathes. Also, we will now get a clearer picture of digital console games, like Hotline Miami and Ori this week.

I doubt Sony or MS will release the numbers for digital in PSN/XBL. Without them they are useless. At least for a comparison.

Ori is a Microsoft owned IP and its on the list

Cities:Skylines sold over 250k worldwide in the first 24 hours, it's kinda crazy that these kind of games are never really mentioned in sales discussions. Sure, it's not full price (28 Euro on Steam) but only digital and with that still making a ton of money for Paradox.

User Requested removal

It's a great game, and further proof to EA that they did a horrible job casualizing simcity.

All people wanted was lots of road manipulation, and interesting mechanics. Not mini-cities and typhoons and all that nonsense.