Category Archives: Charts
$65B Spent on Gaming, Fastest Growing Entertainment Sector
Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg spoke on Major Nelson's podcast about the video game industry as a whole and how well it is performing when compared to other entertainment industries.
Gamers spent $65 billion on video games in 2012, with consoles leading the industry. $28 billion have been spent on console gaming, which is 42 percent of the total sales. The PC sector just edges out the Mobile / Tablet sector with $12 billion in sales, compared to $10 billion. Handheld gaming, which includes the 3DS and PlayStation Vita accounts, accounts for $8 billion in gaming sales. The Social / Browser sector has caught up with handhelds at $8 billion.
The home console sales have grown consistently since the 5th generation, PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64. There were 150 million home consoles sold in the 5th generation, while sales grew 30 percent to 200 million in the 6th generation. The 6th generation includes the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Console sales skyrocketed in the 7th generation with 300 million units sold to date. The 7th generation includes the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The 7th generation is on track to double the sales of the 6th generation.
Microsoft has also released their projections for the 8th generation which includes the next Xbox, PlayStation 4 and Wii U. The 8th generation is expected to grow 28 percent from the 7th generation, to 385 million consoles sold.
As a whole the video game industry is on track to become the biggest entertainment sector. It is currently growing at 7 percent per year which is higher than any other entertainment sector. TV subscriptions are growing at 6.8 percent per year, TV ads by 4.6 percent, Radio by 3.2 percent, Music by 1.9 percent, and film by 1.7 percent. The Newspaper, Magazine and Book industries have been showing a slight decline, though less than one percent.
The video game industry has surpassed the film industry when it comes to blockbusters. Call of Duty II: Black Ops II reached $650 million in sales in just five days, while the Avengers film made $373 million in 10 days. More recently Iron Man 3 produced $285 million in sales in its first 10 days. In the US, the Home Console market has reached the US Box Office market in 2012 with $11 billion in sales each.
Other figures include more than one billion people playing games online worldwide and video game software sales have made $12.1 billion in profit.
Top 10 in Sales – Grand Theft Auto
Welcome to the ‘Top 10’ weekly feature. Each week we will be taking a look at the top 10 selling games in a particular genre, platform, most recent month, even sprinkling in the top 10 selling games from a past year. All sales specified will be worldwide, unless stated otherwise. If there is a particular top 10 you want to see leave a comment and it may be featured in a future top 10.
This week we will be looking at the top 10 selling Grand Theft Auto games. Last week we looked at the top 10 selling games in April 2013 and the week before that the top 10 selling Tomb Raider games.
Looking at the top 10 bestselling Grand Theft Auto games, two of the games were released in the 1990’s and eight of the games were released in the 2000’s. Grand Theft Auto V which is set to be released later this year will be the first in the franchise to be released in the 2010’s.
The two games released in 1990’s, Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto II, sold a combined 5.98 million units or 5.4 percent of the total games sold in the top 10. It wasn’t until the release of Grand Theft Auto III on the PlayStation 2 in October 2001 that it became one of the top selling franchises in the industry. The majority of the games sales have occurred since them. In the top 10 alone, 94.6 percent of the sales occurred since the release of Grand Theft Auto III.
The top 10 bestselling Grand Theft Auto games sold a combined 110.82 million units. The top three titles sold more than 20 million units and the top five titles sold more than 10 million units. The top six titles sold more than five million units, the top eight titles sold more than three million units and all the games in the top 10 broke the two million mark.
Take-Two has published all the games in franchise, while Rockstar has been the main developer for the franchise.
The top 10 bestselling Grand Theft Auto games as a graph really shows how the franchise has only gotten more popular with each main release, other than Grand Theft Auto IV. Grand Theft Auto 2 outsold the original by 25 percent, while Grand Theft Auto III outsold the first two titles in the franchise combined and multiplied by three. Vice City outsold Grand Theft Auto III by 3.06 million units or 15 percent, while San Andreas out sold Vice City by 3.23 million units or 14 percent.
The majority of the sales for Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas came from the PlayStation 2. However, Grand Theft Auto IV sales were pretty even between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 version sold 10.25 million units, while the PlayStation 3 version sold 9.71 million units. It is also the second bestselling Grand Theft Auto game of all time with combined sales of 20.69 million units. It only recently passed Vice City.
Of the top 10 titles, all 10 were released on a Sony platform, whether it is the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, or PSP. Five of the games were released on a Microsoft platform, whether it is the original Xbox or Xbox 360. Only two of the titles were released on a Nintendo platform, the Gameboy Advance and DS.
Note: The Rockstar Games Double Pack bundles counted towards both games. For example the Xbox double pack for Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City sold 2.49 million units, therefore 2.49 million units were added to each games total above.
Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com
2013 Year on Year Sales and Market Share Update to May 11th
Here we see data representing the global sales through to consumers and change in sales performance of the four home consoles and four handhelds over comparable periods for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Also shown is the market share for each of the consoles over the same periods.
Year to Date Sales Comparison (Same Periods Covered)
Market Share – 7th Generation (Same Periods Covered)
Market Share – 8th Generation (Same Periods Covered)
2010 – (Week beginning January 3 to May 15)
2011 – (Week beginning January 2 to May 14)
2012 – (Week beginning January 1 to May 12)
2013 – (Week beginning December 30 to May 11)
Total Sales and Market Share for Each Year – 7th Generation
Total Sales and Market Share for Each Year – 8th Generation
"Year to date" sales for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 sales are shown in series at the top of the table and then just below a comparison of 2013 versus 2011 and 2013 versus 2012 is displayed. This provides an easy-to-view summary of all the data.
Microsoft
Xbox 360 - Down Year-on-Year 6,206, Year to Date -16.0%
Sony
PlayStation 3 – Down Year-on-Year 855, Year to Date -17.4%
PSP - Down Year-on-Year 8,573, Year to Date -7.4%
PlayStation Vita – Down Year-on-Year 9,395, Year to Date -30.3%
Nintendo
Nintendo Wii - Down Year-on-Year 27,746, Year to Date -54.9%
Nintendo DS - Down Year-on-Year 16,330, Year to Date -56.9%
Nintendo 3DS - Up Year-on-Year 19,750, Year to Date -7.8%
Nintendo Wii U – n/a
Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com
Weekly Sales Analysis, 11 May – Lifetime PS3 Sales Right Behind X360
Overview
There were adjustments to the sales figures this week. Most notable were the increases in the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Vita hardware sales. The PlayStation 3 is now just 50,000 units behind the Xbox 360 and will become the second bestselling home console of the 7th generation in the next couple of weeks. The PlayStation Vita was adjusted above 5 million units.
Overall hardware sales decreased by 13 percent week-on-week. Week-on-week sales are down across the board. Overall year-on-year sales are down four percent. Also the 3DS is the only platform to be up year-on-year. However, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are only slightly down. The DS has dropped by 50 percent year-on-year, the biggest by percent.
No games debuted in the top 30 this week.
There are no software milestones this week in the top 30.
Worldwide Hardware
Hardware home console sales week-on-week are down across the board. PlayStation 3 sales are down 12,240 (-9%) to 127,649 units sold. Xbox 360 sales are down 1,991 (-2%) to 92,388 units sold. The Wii sold 30,249 units, a decrease of 1,228 (-4%). The Wii U sold 26,864 units, a decrease of 5,547 (-17%).
Handheld sales week-on-week has dropped across the board. The 3DS sold 138,079 units, which is down 29,753 (-18%) week-on-week. The PSP is down 5,576 (-10%) to 50,273 units sold. The Vita sold 31,794 units which is down 17,690 (-36%) compared to last week. The DS is down 30 (0%) to 16,641 units sold. Total week on week sales are down 74,055 units (-13%) to 513,937 units sold.
The 3DS is the only platform up year-on-year. The PlayStation 3 is down 855 (-1%), the Wii is down 27,746 (-48%), and the Xbox 360 is down 6,206 (-6%). The PSP is down 8,573 (-15%), the DS is down 16,330 (-50%), the Vita is down 9,395 (-23%) and the 3DS is up 19,750 (17%). Year on year sales are down 22,491 units (-4%).
Home console hardware sales for the Xbox 360 for three weeks, the PlayStation 3 for six weeks, the Wii for two weeks, and the Wii U for one week. The PlayStation 3 has led for the last 20 weeks. Wii and Wii U sales have been nearly identical for the last five weeks.
The PlayStation 3 has a 51 percent market share for the seventh generation; the Xbox 360 has a 37 percent market share; and the Wii has a 12 percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago all for home consoles are down.
Handheld hardware sales have decreased for one week for the 3DS and Vita, two weeks for the PSP and six weeks for the DS. The gap between the 3DS and Vita has decreased this week to 107,000 units this week, down from 118,000 units last week.
The PSP has a 75 percent market share this week for the seventh generation handhelds, while the DS has a 25 percent market share. The 3DS has an 81 percent market share for the eighth generation of handhelds, while the Vita has a 19 percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago all four handhelds are down.
Worldwide Software
No games debuted in the top 30 this week.
Here are the other games in the top 10 that are not debuts: Tomodachi Collection: Shin Seikatsu (3DS) is at the top of the charts with sales of 103,410. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) is at number two with sales of 95,590. LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS) is at number three with sales of 61,775. Dead Island: Riptide (X360) is at number four with sales of 50,505. Injustice: Gods Among Us (X360) is at number five with sales of 37,791.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PS3) is at number six with sales of 36,128. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (X360) is at number seven with sales of 34,783. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) is at number eight with sales of 31,852. Dragon’s Dogma (PS3) is at number nine with sales of 29,146. Dead Island: Riptide (PS3) rounds out the top 10 with sales of 28,181.
Software home console sales week-on-week are down across the board. The PlayStation 3 sold the most games this week with sales of 962m291, a decrease of 183,610 units (-16%). The Xbox 360 sold 994,918 games this week, a decrease of 119,540 units (-12%). Wii software sales are down 42,589 units (-8%) to 460,707 games sold. The Wii U sold 95,004 games, a decrease of 17,882 (-16%).
Handheld software sales week-on-week are down across the board. The 3DS sold 576,868 games, which is down 248,860 units (30%). The DS sold 303,614 games, a decrease of 34,769 units (-10%) week-on-week. The PSP sold 100,225 games, a decrease of 31,277 (-24%). Vita game sales are down 61,309 units (-39%) to 95,568 games sold. Total combined software is down 739,836 games units (-18%) week-on-week to 3.48 million.
Year on year software totals are up for the 3DS and Vita, and down for everything else. The PlayStation 3 is down 372,253 units (-28%), the Wii is down 353,900 units (-43%) and the Xbox 360 is down 312,482 units (-26%). The DS is down 120,002 units (-28%), the PSP is down 73,903 units (-42%), the 3DS is up 302,836 units (111%), and the Vita is up 9,142 units (11%). Total combined software is down 825,558 units (-19%) games sold year on year.
Home console software sales have decreased for one week for all four home consoles. Software sales between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 remain within 200,000 of each other for the second straight week.
The PlayStation 3 has a 42 percent market share, the Xbox 360 has a 38 percent market share, and the Wii has a 20 percent market share. Compared to ten weeks ago the Wii U is up, while the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii are down.
The 3DS sold the most software for a handheld for the 21st straight week. The 3DS and DS have remained above their rivals, the Vita and PSP respectively. The 3DS sold more than six times as many games as the Vita. The DS sold more than three times as many games as the PSP.
The DS has a 75 percent market share for the current generation handhelds and the PSP has a 25 percent market share. The 3DS has an 86 percent market share for the next generation handhelds, while the Vita has a 14 percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago the 3DS is up, while the DS, Vita and PSP are down.
The Top 75 can be seen below or click here to view the full chart.
Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com
Apple App Store Hits 50 Billion Downloads
The Apple App Store has hit 50 billion downloads. This figure does not include re-downloads or updates. Users are also currently downloading 800 apps every second. There are also now two billion apps downloaded per month.
"Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded," said Apple's Eddy Cue. "The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We're absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years."
Developers have made more than $9 billion and Apple's 30 percent cut all app sales have made Apple $3.9 billion. Also Brandon Ashmore, who lives in Ohio, downloaded the 50th billion app and received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card.
The App Store launched in July 2008, with just 500 apps. There are now more 850,000 apps available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in 155 countries.
Candy Crush Tips – Level 29, 30, 33 and 65
Candy Crush Saga can be a fiendishly difficult game at times. Four of the hardest levels that have surfaced are levels 29, 30, 33 and 65, all of which require varying degrees of luck, forward planning and special candy.
We have partnered with Gamewise to bring you our hints and tips for these challenging levels:
Candy Crush Level 29, 30, 33 and 65 Hints
Candy Crush Saga can be a fiendishly difficult game at times. Four of the hardest levels that have surfaced are levels 29, 30, 33 and 65, all of which require varying degrees of luck, forward planning and special candy.
We have partnered with Gamewise to bring you our hints and tips for these challenging levels:
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Click here for Candy Crush Level 29
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Click here for Candy Crush Level 30
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Click here for Candy Crush Level 33
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Click here for Candy Crush Level 65
Activision Passed Electronic Arts in 2012, Ubisoft Beat Out Nintendo
Ubisoft has collected sales figures from NPD, GfK Chart Track and Nielsen for 2012 and has released its findings. They have released the 10 biggest publishers by market share, as well as the bestselling franchises since 2005.
Activision overtook Electronic Arts in 2012 to become the biggest publisher. Activision's market share grew to 19.5 percent, up from 15.7 percent in 2011, while Electronic Arts dropped to 19.4 percent, from 19.7 percent.
Ubisoft also beat out Nintendo in 2012. Ubisoft increased its market share to 11.2 percent, from 8.8 percent, while Nintendo's market share decreased to 10.8 percent from 12.4 percent.
Take-Two and Microsoft both increased their market share to 6.4 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Sony's market share dropped to 3.5 percent from 5.3 percent. THQ's market share dropped to 3.3 percent, from 4.9 percent and Warner Bros. market share dropped to 3.3 percent from 3.7 percent. Capcom's market share doubled to 2.4 percent, from 1.2 percent.
As for the bestselling franchises since 2005, the platforms include the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC. Call of Duty was number one franchise, followed by Nintendo's flagship franchise, Mario. FIFA was the bestselling sports franchise and the third bestselling franchise overall. Wii Fit, if you include sales of the hardware, was the fourth bestselling franchise. Assassin's Creed rounds out the top five franchises.
Despite now being a dead franchise, Guitar Hero is the sixth bestselling franchise for the seventh generation of consoles. Microsoft's flagship franchise, Halo, was the seventh bestselling franchise. Two Electronic Arts titles are in the 8 and 9 spots, Madden NFL and The Sims. Need for Speed is the bestselling racing franchise and rounds out the top 10.
Here are the top 20 franchises since 2005 (Platforms include Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC):
1. Call of Duty
2. Mario
3. FIFA
4. Wii Fit (includes hardware)
5. Assassin's Creed
6. Guitar Hero
7. Halo
8. Madden NFL
9. The Sims
10. Need for Speed
11. Battlefield
12. Just Dance
13. Rock Band
14. Mario Kart Wii
15. Lego
16. Grand Theft Auto
17. World of Warcraft
18. WWE
19. Elder Scrolls
20. Sonic
USA Preorders Chart, 11 May 2013 – Metro: Last Light
Overview
There is one game in the top 40 to be in their final week: Metro: Last light for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Four games have 200,000 or more pre-orders, up from three last week, and the top five has 100,000 or more pre-orders, the same as last week. One game, Call of Duty: Ghosts (X360), added 20,000 or more pre-orders, the same number as last week and five added 10,000 or more, up from two last week.
Games in Final Week Before Launch
Metro: Last Light (X360) added 2,978 pre-orders for a grand total of 70,292. Expect first week sales in the USA at retail to be in the 100,000 to 125,000 unit range. Expect the game to sell between 300,000 units and 500,000 units lifetime in the US.
Metro: Last Light (PS3) added 1,620 pre-orders for a grand total of 46,409. Expect first week sales in the USA at retail to be in the 60,000 to 80,000 unit range. Expect the game to sell between 250,000 units and 400,000 units lifetime in the US.
Major Performers in the U.S. – Week Ending May 17
There were no major releases the previous week.
Overall hardware and software sales are expected to drop slightly week-on-week.
Other Hot Games – In Order of Release
The Last of Us (PS3) added 9,996 pre-orders, up from 8,494 last week, for a total of 275,516. The game has fallen from 50,000 to 44,000 pre-orders ahead of Uncharted 3 during the same number of weeks before release. The game is five weeks away from launch in the USA, June 14, 2013.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) added 11,441 pre-orders, down from 18,019 last week, for a total of 202,843. The game is five weeks away from launch in the USA, June 9, 2013.
Grand Theft Auto V (X360) is the number one most pre-ordered game in the US as it added 5,970 pre-orders, up from 3,467 last week, for a total of 282,328. The PlayStation 3 version added 3,659 up from 2,288 pre-orders for a total of 242,020. The game is 19 weeks away from launch in the USA, September 17, 2013.
Battlefield 4 (X360) added 8,069 pre-orders, down from 8,465 last week, for a total of 132,204. Battlefield 4 (PS3) added 5,814 pre-orders, down from 6,814 last week, for a total of 59,868. The game has a release date in the third quarter 2013.
Notable mentions: Tales of Xillia (PS3) added 10,682 pre-orders for a total of 90,130. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX (PS3) added 17,213 pre-orders for a total of 32,786. Call of Duty: Ghosts (X360) added 21,569 pre-orders for a total of 25,507.
Requests: Resident Evil: Revelations (PS3) added 1,109 pre-orders for a total of 8,657. Resident Evil: Revelations (X360) added 1,172 pre-orders for a total of 7,973. Resident Evil: Revelations (WiiU) added 461 pre-orders for a total of 2,857. Dragon’s Crown (PSV) added 476 pre-orders for a total of 5,410. Killzone: Mercenary (PSV) added 302 pre-orders for a total of 3,581.
If your favorite game isn't in the top 40, leave a comment requesting which game you want to see and the most requested games will be added in next week's article!
The Top 40 can be seen below or click here to go to the USA pre-orders page.
| Pos | Game | Weeks to Launch | Weekly Change | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
19 | 5,970 | 282,328 | ||
| 2 |
|
5 | 9,996 | 275,516 | ||
| 3 |
|
19 | 3,659 | 242,020 | ||
| 4 |
|
5 | 11,441 | 202,843 | ||
| 5 |
|
21 | 8,069 | 132,204 | ||
| 6 |
|
13 | 10,682 | 90,130 | ||
| 7 |
|
15 | 2,284 | 73,364 | ||
| 8 |
|
34 | 299 | 71,180 | ||
| 9 |
|
1 | 2,978 | 70,292 | ||
| 10 |
|
22 | 3,265 | 68,850 | ||
| 11 |
|
25 | 3,113 | 61,080 | ||
| 12 |
|
21 | 5,814 | 59,868 | ||
| 13 |
|
34 | 322 | 54,430 | ||
| 14 |
|
N/A | 85 | 52,045 | ||
| 15 |
|
13 | 976 | 49,929 | ||
| 16 |
|
1 | 1,620 | 46,409 | ||
| 17 |
|
15 | 707 | 44,001 | ||
| 18 |
|
10 | 4,360 | 43,045 | ||
| 19 |
|
34 | 341 | 42,235 | ||
| 20 |
|
34 | 80 | 37,889 | ||
| 21 |
|
34 | 33 | 34,226 | ||
| 22 |
|
18 | 17,213 | 32,786 | ||
| 23 |
|
7 | 4,005 | 32,557 | ||
| 24 |
|
25 | 1,791 | 28,135 | ||
| 25 |
|
17 | 251 | 27,342 | ||
| 26 |
|
26 | 21,569 | 25,507 | ||
| 27 |
|
15 | 451 | 25,095 | ||
| 28 |
|
34 | 321 | 24,322 | ||
| 29 |
|
34 | 33 | 23,857 | ||
| 30 |
|
N/A | 988 | 23,432 | ||
| 31 |
|
34 | 351 | 22,581 | ||
| 32 |
|
3 | 1,368 | 20,692 | ||
| 33 |
|
25 | 1,170 | 20,000 | ||
| 34 |
|
3 | 548 | 19,700 | ||
| 35 |
|
26 | 16,519 | 19,303 | ||
| 36 |
|
15 | 324 | 18,991 | ||
| 37 |
|
10 | 1,108 | 17,069 | ||
| 38 |
|
13 | 722 | 14,588 | ||
| 39 |
|
7 | 1,871 | 14,523 | ||
| 40 |
|
15 | 2,157 | 13,591 |
Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com
Ubisoft Sales Up 18%, Assassin’s Creed III Sells 12.5m Units
Ubisoft has released its fourth quarter sales, as well as full year sales for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2013. Fourth quarter sales increased 8.7 percent year-over-year to €175 million ($225 million), from €161 million ($207 million).
Sales for the full year jumped 18.4 percent to €1.26 billion ($1.62 billion), from €1.06 billion ($1.36 billion) the previous year. Gross profit increased to €913.5 million ($1.18 billion), from €718.1 million ($924.6 million) the previous year. 54 percent of the total sales were in North America, while Europe accounted for 39 percent. The rest of the world accounted for just seven percent. The Xbox 360 accounted for 34 percent of the sales, followed by the PlayStation 3 with 30 percent and the Wii with 15 percent.
€928 million ($1.19 billion) of the total revenue came from games for core gamers. This is a 60 percent increase year-over-year. €328 million ($422.3 million) of the revenue came from the sales of casual games. This is a drop of 32 percent, but did account for 26 percent of the total sales.
Assassin's Creed III was by far the companies biggest title. The game managed to sell more than 12.5 million units at both retail and digitally. Far Cry 3 has sold 6 million units at retail and digitally and Just Dance 4 managed to sell 8.5 million units.
Digital sales accounted 11.7 percent of the companies total sales. Digital sales managed to increase 86 percent year-over-year to €148 million ($190.6 million). Back-catalog sales decreased four percent to €206 million ($265.3 million).
"The success of Far Cry 3 confirmed our strong comeback in the major segment of shooter games," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. "We began fiscal 2012-13 with two major franchises: Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance. Twelve months later, we have substantially extended our reach by establishing Far Cry as another major franchise, building upon the great potential for our newest brand, Watch Dogs, and making our online/digital segment an increasingly significant part of our business."
For the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2014, Ubisoft is expecting full year sales to be between €1.42 billion ($1.83 billion) and €1.45 billion ($1.87 billion). Core game sales is expected to increase for the year due to the releases of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist, Watch Dogs, and two other unannounced titles.
Sales from casual games are expected to continue to decrease and represent less than 20 percent of the total sales. Digital sales are expected to see "sharp growth" due the launch of several free-to-play titles, such as The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, Anno Online and Might & Magic Heroes Online.
"Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance have joined the prestigious club of the 20 best-selling brands for the current generation of consoles, ranking fifth and twelfth respectively," said Guillemot. "This performance was achieved thanks to high quality levels and regular releases – two key characteristics found in each of the highest-performing brands in this console cycle."
"A new console cycle is beginning and it will offer players an unrivaled experience," added Guillemot. "They will see a major leap in quality with an extraordinary level of immersion as well as the incorporation of all of the innovations developed in recent years in online and social games, giving players the opportunity to create their own experiences and share them within their communities."
"In order to reap the full benefit of the strong growth expected from the launch of these new consoles," Guillemot continued," we are integrating into our next blockbusters all of the expertise we have built up over recent years through our online games such as Settlers Online, Trackmania, Howrse and Trials Evolution, as well as our online services platform Uplay which offers us a strategic link with players."
"Our experience in connected gaming, the quality of our brands and our ability to regularly release major titles, will be vital strengths for capturing new market share and will serve as key growth drivers for the coming years," Guillemot concluded.
Gran Turismo Franchise Races to 70m Units Sold, GT5 Sells 10m Units
Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe CEO and president Jim Ryan spoke at the Gran Turismo 15th anniversary event. He announced that the franchise has sold 70 million units worldwide to date and Gran Turismo 5 has sold 10 million units. The announcements were Tweeted by PlayStation Europe.
"[Gran Turismo is] as relevant now as it was 15 years ago. It’s been hugely successful and continues to be," said Ryan. "It’s the most successful PlayStation franchise ever with worldwide sales of 70 million units! Almost half in Europe."
Indie Title Frozen Synapse Sales Top 450,000 Units
Paul Taylor, Mode 7's co-founder, has told MCVUK that its title Frozen Synapse has managed to sell 450,000 units to date. The game is available for the PC, MAC and Linux. 230,000 of the units sold came from the Humble Indie Bundle in 2011.
"About 230,000 were from the Humble Bundle and the rest are from Steam, direct sales and other distributors," Taylor said. "Everything not in the humble bundle had a free key, and about 50% of people use their free key."
Frozen Synapse is coming out on the iPad on May 16 and will be coming out for the Android in the future. The Android version is being handled by an external studio and currently does not have a release date. The iPad version will feature crossplay across many tablets.
"We don't feel like [the iPad version] is a massive gamble: it's certainly not in percentage terms from Frozen Synapse's revenue overall," said Taylor. "There has been a lot of vocal demand for this version from our community, so even if it sells only within that it should have been worthwhile."
"The major downside of this is that any release takes a huge amount of time in terms of getting everything right / QA etc," Taylor continued. "I don't think we underestimated this though: I went into it with the full knowledge that it would be hard and take a lot of time. We [recently] finished a release candidate and I'm extremely proud of the work the team has done - they have pulled out all the stops and their effort in the final push has been commendable."
Mode 7 is also working on a successor to the title called Frozen Endzone, which is due out in 2014. It was just approved by the Steam Greenlight.
EA Opens New DICE Studio in LA, to Develop Star Wars Games
Electronic Arts has opened a new DICE studio in Los Angeles and it will focus on developing new Star Wars titles. A report on the Wall Street Journal has stated that the new studio is looking to hire 60 employees by the end of 2013.
This news comes a week after Electronic Arts secured a deal with Disney to exclusively develop and publish future Star Wars games. DICE Los Angeles will be using the Frostbite 3 engine to develop its Star Wars games. Battlefield 3 used the same engine.
Karl-Magnus Troedsson, the companies general manager, did say that the LA studio will have two main rivals also based in Southern California. The two studios are Activision's Infinity Ward and Treyarch, who both develop Call of Duty titles.
The new LA studio has already hired several employees from the core team behind the Medal of Honor franchise. Troedsson hopes to draw from the same talent pool as its two rivals.
"There is an extreme talent pool over that we want a part of," Troedsson said. "It's no secret that our main competitor is there."
Little Riddles Word Game – Cheats and Answers
In partnership with Gamewise, we bring you the full set of solutions and cheats for the hit smartphone game Little Riddles:
Chose the level you are stuck on from the links below for the answers:
Take-Two Sales Up 32%, BioShock Infinite Ships 3.7m Units
Take-Two has released its financial report for its fiscal fourth quarter 2013 and its full fiscal year sales, which ended March 31, 2013. Revenue for the quarter reached $299.5 million, double the $148.1 million that was posted a year ago. The company posted a profit of $22.5 million, up from a loss of $66.8 million.
For the full fiscal year, revenue jumped to $1.21 billion, from $825.8 million. Despite the increase in sales, Take-Two posted a loss of $29.49 million, though this is an improvement over a loss of $108.8 million the prior year.
Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick, in the investors conference call, announced that BioShock Infinite has shipped 3.7 million units to date, while Borderlands 2 has shipped more than six million units. Also NBA 2K13 has shipped more than five million units.
Take-Two has stated that its digital sales have continued to grow at a rapid pace with revenue up 192 percent year-over-year. Digital sales also accounted for 27 percent of the total Non-GAAP revenue. Digital sales were driven by Borderlands 2, BioShock Infinite, NBA 2K13 and the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
"With BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, NBA 2K13 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, our 2K label released four of the past year’s most critically acclaimed titles," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. "Our commitment to delight consumers with the highest-quality interactive entertainment experiences enabled Take-Two to have an outstanding year, despite a challenging environment for many in our industry."
"2013 is the 20th anniversary of Take-Two’s founding and, today, our Company is better positioned for success than at any other time in its history," added Zelnick. "With Rockstar Games launching Grand Theft Auto V in September, fiscal 2014 is poised to be one of our best years ever. Looking ahead, we have an extensive pipeline of next-generation and emerging platform titles in development, including both new intellectual property and releases from our proven franchises."
Take-Two has also released its forecast for the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2013, as well as full 2014 fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2014. For the first quarter 2014, Take-Two expects revenue to be between $100 million and $125 million. For the full fiscal year, Take-Two expects revenue to be between $1.75 billion and $1.85 billion. This is roughly a 50 percent increase year-over-year.
Top 10 in Sales – April 2013
Welcome to the ‘Top 10’ weekly feature. Each week we will be taking a look at the top 10 selling games in a particular genre, platform, most recent month, even sprinkling in the top 10 selling games from a past year. All sales specified will be worldwide, unless stated otherwise. If there is a particular top 10 you want to see leave a comment and it may be featured in a future top 10.
This week we will be looking at the top 10 selling games in April 2013. Last week we looked at the top 10 selling Tomb Raider games and the week before that the top 10 selling Final Fantasy games.
Looking at the top 10 bestselling games in April 2013, nine of the 10 games were released in 2013, while the other game was released in 2012. Four games were released in March 2013; five games were released in April 2013; and one game was released in May 2012. The game released in 2012, Dragon’s Dogma, is at the bottom of the list with sales of 190,157.
The four games released in March 2013, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS), BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Tomb Raider (PS3), sold a combined 1.54 million units or 43.8 percent of the total games sold in the top 10. The five games released in April 2013, Tomodachi Collection (3DS), Injustice: Gods Among Us for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Defiance (X360), and Dead Island: Riptide (X360), sold a combined 1.79 million units or 50.9 percent of the total games sold in the top 10.
The top 10 bestselling games in April 2013 sold a combined 3.52 million units. The top two titles sold more than 500,000 units and the top five titles sold more than 300,000 units. The top nine titles sold more than 200,000 units.
Two of the titles are first party and both were published by Nintendo. Those two games Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Tomodachi Collection are both for the 3DS and sold a combined 1.28 million units or 36.4 percent of the total games sold in the top 10.
The third party publishers include Warner Bros., Take-Two, Trion Worlds, Deep Silver, Square Enix, and Capcom. The two Warner Bros. titles are Injustice: Gods Among Us for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. They sold a combined 705,472 units or 20.2 percent of the total games sold in the top 10. The two Take-Two titles are the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of BioShock Infinite which sold a combined 611,386 units or 17.3 percent of the total games sold in the top 10.
The top 10 bestselling games in April 2013 as a graph shows how the recently released 3DS titles has sold above the rest of the top 10. The 3DS has the top two titles, games Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Tomodachi Collection.
There are four Xbox 360 titles, as well as four PlayStation 3 titles. The four Xbox 360 titles has sold a combined 1.28 million units or 36.4 percent of the total games sold in the top 10. The four PlayStation 3 titles sold a combined 0.96 million units or 27.3 percent of the total games sold in the top 10.
Here are sales figures outside the top 10: The top 28 titles sold more than 100,000 units, while the top 65 titles sold more than 50,000 units.
For the month of April there were 2.04 million units of hardware sold, which is a 32.8 percent drop compared to March. There were also 22.35 million units of software sold, which is a 35.1 percent drop month-on-month.
Nintendo was the top publisher with 3.76 million games, while Sony sold 0.96 million games and Microsoft sold 0.86 million games. Electronic Arts sold 2.18 million games, Take-Two sold 1.63 million games, Activision sold 1.60 million games, Warner Bros. sold 1.35 million games, and Ubisoft sold 1.32 million games.
Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com
NCsoft YoY Profits Up 31% Due to Guild Wars 2 Success
NCsoft has released its financial report for its first quarter 2013. The company posted revenue of ₩184.9 billion ($166.2 million), which is up a massive 322 percent compared to the same quarter in 2012. Profits increased 31 percent to ₩52.3 billion ($47.0 million).
Of all the games sold 64 percent were sold in Korea, by far its biggest market. 13 percent of all the games sold were in North America, while eight percent were sold in Europe. Seven percent were sold in Japan and one percent were sold in Taiwan.
Guild Wars 2 sales have fallen since its release. The game made up 45 percent of the companies in the fourth quarter 2012, while it made up 21 percent in the first quarter 2013. However, Nah Seong Chan, NCsoft's managing director, did say that the company will be releasing a new expansion pack to help offset the falling Guild Wars 2 sales.
"In terms of box sales and microtransactions are still very strong," said Chan in the companies earnings conference call, "and of course we are preparing an expansion pack but in terms of when we will actually launch it, it's something we are still monitoring... We are looking to the performance of the game and then we will decide what will be the best time to do the launch."
Square Enix Posts Loss, Despite Increase in Revenue
Square Enix has released its financial report for its last fiscal quarter, which ended Mach 31, 2013. Revenue increased 15.1 percent to ¥148 billion ($1.45 billion), from ¥127.9 billion ($1.26 billion) during the previous fiscal year. Despite the jump in revenue, profits took a major hit. Square Enix posted a loss of ¥13.7 billion ($134.6 million), down from a profit of ¥6 billion ($59.0 million).
The company has also released several lifetime franchise sales figures. The Final Fantasy franchise has passed 100 million units sold worldwide. The Dragon Quest has sold more than 65 million units, while the Tomb Raider franchise has sold more than 35 million units.
For the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2014, Square Enix is expecting revenue between ¥140 billion ($1.38 billion) and ¥150 billion ($1.47 billion). The company expects to return to profits after a significant loss. Profits are expected to be between ¥3.5 billion ($34.4 million) and ¥6 billion ($59.0 million).
4 Scenes 1 Movie Cheats and Answers
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2013 Year on Year Sales and Market Share Update to May 4th
Here we see data representing the global sales through to consumers and change in sales performance of the four home consoles and four handhelds over comparable periods for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Also shown is the market share for each of the consoles over the same periods.
Year to Date Sales Comparison (Same Periods Covered)
Market Share – 7th Generation (Same Periods Covered)
Market Share – 8th Generation (Same Periods Covered)
2010 – (Week beginning January 3 to May 8)
2011 – (Week beginning January 2 to May 7)
2012 – (Week beginning January 1 to May 5)
2013 – (Week beginning December 30 to May 4)
Total Sales and Market Share for Each Year – 7th Generation
Total Sales and Market Share for Each Year – 8th Generation
"Year to date" sales for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 sales are shown in series at the top of the table and then just below a comparison of 2013 versus 2011 and 2013 versus 2012 is displayed. This provides an easy-to-view summary of all the data.
Microsoft
Xbox 360 - Down Year-on-Year 13,792, Year to Date -29.0%
Sony
PlayStation 3 – Down Year-on-Year 14,242, Year to Date -22.1%
PSP - Down Year-on-Year 39,847, Year to Date -66.6%
PlayStation Vita – Down Year-on-Year 5,991, Year to Date -38.9%
Nintendo
Nintendo Wii - Down Year-on-Year 42,665, Year to Date -61.3%
Nintendo DS - Down Year-on-Year 19,947, Year to Date -51.5%
Nintendo 3DS - Up Year-on-Year 1,187, Year to Date -7.1%
Nintendo Wii U – n/a
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