Blizzard dominates May PC game sales

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Gaming research firm NPD Group revealed May’s top 20 selling PC games and unsurprisingly World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King sits at number one. The original title was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006, and the Burning Crusade expansion sold 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours. With more people playing WoW than ever, Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies on its opening day, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time.

While WoW’s second expansion has been resting comfortably at the top of NPD’s list since its debut, the World of Warcraft Battle Chest and other standalone titles never fall far behind. Last month the Battle Chest was at number 3, World of Warcraft at 4, and the Burning Crusade at 11. Other Blizzard titles to make this month’s list include the StarCraft Battle Chest at 10, the Diablo Battle Chest at 16 and the Warcraft III Battle Chest at 18.

Coming in second place is Electronic Arts' The Sims 2 Double Deluxe. EA holds other positions with Spore at 6, The Sims 2 Apartment Life at 8 and The Sim City Box at 14. Left 4 Dead is hanging tight at position 7 and Fallout 3 moved up three spots from last month to claim spot 15. Despite Demigod’s rampant piracy and Stardock’s reported technical issues, it came in at number 12.

NPD Group research excludes both legal and illegal digital distribution, so its numbers are not completely accurate as they mostly reflect what's hot on retail shelves. The complete top 20 list, after the jump.

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Blizzard
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
3. World of Warcraft Battle Chest - Blizzard
4. World of Warcraft - Blizzard
5. Empire: Total War - Creative Assembly/Sega
6. Spore - Electronic Arts
7. Left 4 Dead - Valve
8. The Sims 2 Apartment Life - Electronic Arts
9. Fallout Trilogy - Interplay
10. StarCraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
11. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade - Blizzard
12. Demigod - Gas Powered Games/Stardock
13. Real Deal Slots Adventure - Phantom EFX
14. The SimCity Box - Electronic Arts
15. Fallout 3 - Bethesda Softworks
16. Diablo Battle Chest - Blizzard
17. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition - Bethesda Softworks
18. Warcraft III Battle Chest - Blizzard
19. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - Relic/THQ
20. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - Relic/THQ

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/35131-blizzard-dominates-may-pc-game-sales.html

 

[Tekkaraiden]

You know it has been quiet in PC gaming when Starcraft and Warcraft 3 make a top 20 list. I also noticed that the price of the battle chests have gone up considerably in the last year.

 

[czplayer]

Man, when I glanced at the article I was hoping it was going to be something about the release date of StarCraft2. I wanna get it sooooooo bad!!! ;'(

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Haha, sorry to disappoint, czplayer. Maybe you'll be chosen to beta test !

 

[Guest]

Either the StarCraft or WarCraft battlechest is always in the top 20, every month.

Interesting to see the SC:BC drop to number 10 though, that only happens around 3 times a year, usually the WC:BC is the one in the lower half.

 

[Guest]

Quiet? The battlechests always hit the top 20. Even on Amazon's lists. That's just how the last decade of pc gaming has been, and probably how it will continue to be until Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2 are released. When those hit the market, the world will feel their reverberations.

 

[tengeta]

Is there no Guitar Hero or Rock Band for PC? That crap seems to fly off shelves faster than water.

 

[Nestea]

lol. wait for Achron. Achron, hypothetically, eats all RTS games. Apart from the fact that the guy who made it is a fan of StarCraft.

 

[Badfinger]

I am surprised people are still buying that many very old games, in fact I don't believe it.

 

[Appzalien]

Its not that they're old, they keep getting updated with new technology, but its online gaming that they're talking about basically. WOW and the Sims are online games, the kind you wouldn't catch me playing on a bet. The real gaming, or offline games, thats where the real fun is. Joining a bunch of weezly geeks online to play house or pretend I'm some character is not my cup of tea.

 

[Grimrocker]

I totally agree with you Appzalien, infact that's how true pc gaming started where you pick up a copy of a single player game which you had never heard of before and start playing it, only to realize it's one of the best experiences ever. I'm probably referring to the original Half Life game here but yeah i would prefer a great single player game over a great multiplayer game.

 

[Xecutor]

Mutliplayer Starcraft is all about competition and fun. No wonder they top the top 10 lists every year. SC2 has an internal release date (per Blizzard) of End of Q4 2009. Once it hits the shelves, the face of the world will change. The face of RTS gaming will 100% change... forever.

They have said that Beta should be starting very very soon in like end of July or month of Aug 2009. Let's hope to see some Beta footage on youtube in the coming months (or weeks!)