A new monthly report shows the top-selling videogames of 2008 in combined TOTAL unit sales from each of the three major territories (United States of America, United Kingdom and Japan) as well as total sales in each separate country.
Here’s the list of bestselling videogames so far in 2008.
Year-to-Date* Top 5 Video Game Titles
Top Global Markets Report
Ranked By Units**
Rank Title Total – US UK Japan
1. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV 6,293,000 4,711,000 1,582,000 — (not released in Japan)
2. SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL 5,433,000 3,539,000 213,000 1,681,000
3. MARIO KART WII 4,697,000 2,409,000 687,000 1,601,000
4. WII FIT 3,604,000 1,433,000 624,000 1,547,000
5. GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK 3,475,000 3,037,000 412,000 26,000
This is a new way to display data and is due to a new partnership between the three leading companies who provide consumer and retail sales information for the video games industry: The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Tracking Limited and Enterbrain, Inc. The new monthly report of combined worldwide sales data is called the “Top Global Markets Report” and is the first report of it’s kind to integrate point-of-sale (POS) data for video game software sales in the world’s largest games markets.
This new report will be a huge plus for the video game industry, giving them the ability to equip themselves with sales data via jointly-contributed, title-level video games software sales by country. Data can be viewed as an integrated total market view or as side-by-side country comparisons.
“The video games business has become increasingly global, with the majority of the publishers releasing games in multiple markets,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “The U.S, as the world’s largest market will be able to view and compare sales for the first time outside of their own market.”
The report allows users to track titles, unit sales and share, as well as dollar sales and revenue share in order to quickly respond to shifts in the marketplace. It gives users the ability to know the market and competitors across countries in order to analyze and respond to global gaming market trends.
“We are excited to be working more closely with NPD and Enterbrain,” said John Pinder, Managing Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited. “This partnership represents a great opportunity to benefit not only our clients but the industry as a whole by providing a comprehensive, industry-supported view of sales across the three largest video game markets,
“We are very grateful to start such a valuable service and alliance with NPD and GfK Chart-Track Limited,” said Hirokazu Hamamura, President, Enterbrain, Inc. “This service gives us the ability to better help game publishers and developers by providing them with a more global view of market performance.”
Methodology
Information in this report is based on POS data that comes directly from the leading games sales data providers in each country covered by this report.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/
About GfK Chart-Track Limited
GfK Chart-Track Limited, a research company based in West London, monitors sales of music, videos and software through retail in the UK, Ireland and Denmark. GfK Chart-Track Limited has established an unparalleled reputation for fast and accurate retail research in the home entertainment market. The methodology used across all GfK Chart-Track Limited’s services is continuous quantitative retail research, giving clients a broad range of statistical information from GfK Chart-Track Limited’s standard and customized services, enabling them to track market size, market trends and product sales through retail. For more information, visit http://www.chart-track.co.uk/
About Enterbrain, Inc.
ENTERBRAIN, INC. is a publisher of top-selling magazines, with each representing a field within the video game industry, including its flagship series of Famitsu magazines – its most popular being Weekly Famitsu. Additionally, Enterbrain, Inc., a publisher of various entertainment books and magazines in genres such as PC game, horse racing, cartoons, game strategy books, and fighting, has also developed numerous hit video games, such as the Derby Stallion series, and put its efforts into network services with sites such as Famitsu.com, as well as mobile phone sites. Enterbrain, Inc. also provides the most comprehensive up-to-date information on Japan’s game hardware/software industry and publishes the ‘Famitsu White Paper’. For more information, visit http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/