ChartTrack reveals highest ever total market value and unit sales for first three months of the year
It’s official: the past three months have been the most lucrative first quarter in the UK industry’s history.
ChartTrack has confirmed to MCV that retailers raked in a phenomenal £418.4m across all software, including office packages, while a total of 17.89m units were sold.
Both categories demonstrate an expanding market – total unit sales were up by over two million compared to last year’s figure, while market value was the real star; it leapt up by over £100m year-on year.
Q1 vital statistics
Total Market Unit Sales:
2007: 15.62m
2008: 17.89m
Total Market Value:
2007: £317m
2008: £418.4m
ALL FORMATS (ALL PRICES) TOP 20
01. Mario and Sonic: Olympic (Sega)
02. COD4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
03. Brain Training (Nintendo)
04. FIFA ’08 (EA)
05. Wii Play (Nintendo)
06. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Ubisoft)
07. Burnout Paradise (EA)
08. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
09. The Simpsons Game (EA)
10. Guitar Hero III (Activision)
11. More Brain Training (Nintendo)
12. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
13. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom)
14. Need for Speed: ProStreet (EA)
15. Carnival: Funfair Games (2K Play)
16. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (THQ)
17. Army of Two (EA)
18. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
19. Ratatouille (THQ)
20. Cooking Mama (505 Games)
INDIVIDUAL FORMAT CHARTS
Wii
1. Mario & Sonic: Olympic Games (Sega)
2. Wii Play (Nintendo)
3. Carnival: Funfair Games (2K Play)
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)
5. Big Brain Academy: Wii (Nintendo)
6. Game Party (Midway)
7. Sonic and the Secret Rings (Sega)
8. PDC World Champ Darts ‘08 (Oxygen)
9. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo)
10. Ghost Squad (Sega)
PlayStation 3
1. COD4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
2. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (SCE)
3. Burnout Paradise (EA Games)
4. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
5. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCE)
6. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom)
7. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Ubisoft)
8. FIFA ’08 (EA)
9. Army of Two (EA)
10. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
Xbox 360 Full Price
1. COD4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
2. Tom Clancy’s: Vegas 2 (Ubisoft)
3. Burnout Paradise (EA)
4. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom
5. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
6. Army of Two (EA)
7. Turok (Disney)
8. Halo 3 (Microsoft)
9. Frontlines: Fuel of War (THQ)
10. Guitar Hero III: Rock (Activision)
PC All Prices
1. Football Manager 2008 (Sega)
2. COD 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
3. The Sims 2: Freetime (EA)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Soulstorm (THQ)
5. The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff (EA)
6. The Sims 2 (EA)
7. World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
8. WoW: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard)
9. The Sims: Castaway Stories (EA)
10. Crysis (EA)
DS
1. Brain Training (Nintendo)
2. Mario & Sonic: Olympic Games (Sega)
3. More Brain Training (Nintendo)
4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
5. Sight Training (Nintendo)
6. Cooking Mama (505 Games)
7. Cooking Mama 2 (505 Games)
8. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo)
9. Maths Training (Nintendo)
10. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo)
PSP
1. FIFA ’08 (EA)
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
3. The Simpsons Game (EA)
4. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (EA)
5. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (THQ)
6. Football Manager 2008 (Sega)
7. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA)
8. Need for Speed: ProStreet (EA)
9. Transformers: The Game (Activision)
10. Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘08 (EA)
PS2 Full Price
1. Guitar Hero III (Activision)
2. FIFA ’08 (EA)
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
4. Need for Speed: ProStreet (EA)
5. The Simpsons Game (EA)
6. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (THQ)
7. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA)
8. Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz (SCE)
9. Transformers: The Game (Activision)
10. PDC World Champ Darts ‘08 (Oxygen)
Similarly, Nintendo’s strong showing is down to its long tail approach, meaning its Brain Training titles, Wii Play and New Super Mario Bros. continue to shift consistent numbers. Could we be seeing a major shift away from the a short term, ‘hit driven’ culture we have become so used to?
Keeping on that theme, Sega’s Mario and Sonic title just keeps on selling, and will continue to do so right up to and throughout this year’s Beijing Olympics. Special mention must also go to Ubisoft, which claimed a healthy ten per cent market share in unit terms thanks to both Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and another solid seller, Assassin’s Creed.
TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (UNITS)
1. Electronic Arts - 13.6% (2.34m)
2. Nintendo - 12.1% (2.16m)
3. Ubisoft - 10% (1.79m)
4. Sega - 8.9% (1.59m)
5. THQ - 6.5% (1.16m)
6. Activision - 5.9% (1.06m)
7. SCE - 4.1% (0.73m)
8. Microsoft - 4% (0.72m)
9. Take 2 - 3.5% (0.63m)
10. Symnatec - 2.6% (0.47m)
TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (VALUE)
1. Electronic Arts - 15.7% (£65.7m)
2. Nintendo - 11.5% (£48.1m)
3. Sega - 9.5% (£39.7m)
4. Ubisoft - 9.4% (£39.3m)
5. Microsoft - 7.5% (£31.4m)
6. Activision - 6.8% (£28.5m)
7. THQ - 5.5% (£23m)
8. SCE - 4% (£16.7m)
9. Symantec - 3.4% (£14.2m)
10. Take 2 - 2.6% (£10.9m)
Microsoft’s higher-priced line-up ensures fourth spot here for the platform holder, leapfrogging Activision, THQ and Ubisoft when compared to the sales by units listing. And while Norton’s range of PC security software might not boast the glamour of a Halo 3, the software firm proves its worth to retail by sneaking in as the tenth best-selling label in value terms.
TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (UNITS)
1. Nintendo (12%)
2. EA Games (9.9%)
3. Sega (8.4%)
4. THQ (5.9%)
5. Ubisoft (4.6%)
6. Activision (4.6%)
7. Microsoft (3.9%)
8. SCE (3.8%)
9. EA Sports (3.3%)
10. Games for Everyone (2.7%)
TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (VALUE)
1. Nintendo (11.3%)
2. EA Games (11.3%)
3. Sega (9.4%)
4. Microsoft (7.4%)
5. Activision (5.4%)
6. THQ (5.3%)
7. Ubisoft (4.5%)
8. EA Sports (4.2%)
9. SCE (3.8%)
10. Norton (3.4%
