NEW YORK, TOKYO, LONDON, November 5, 2009 - According to recent findings from Top Global Markets, an integrated monthly report from leading providers of consumer and retail information in the video games industry, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc., combined video game software unit sales across the world’s three largest games markets experienced a decline of 6 percent during third-quarter (Q3) 2009 (July-September).
The Japanese software market saw unit sales increase by 15 percent vs. the 20 percent decline it experienced during the same time period in 2008. Console software and portable software saw positive unit growth in Japan, with respective increases of 7 percent and 19 percent. However, year-to-date (YTD) sales for Japan’s software market experienced a 9 percent decline.
With a decline of 19 percent, the United Kingdom experienced the largest aggregate drop in unit sales, followed by United States’ 9 percent decline. UK portable game software experienced a loss in unit sales of 34 percent, followed by console software with a decline of 12 percent. In the United States, console software and portable game software experienced declines of 8 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Year-to-date unit sales in the United States and the United Kingdom experienced declines in both console software and portable game software, with total unit sales for the United States declining 8 percent, and United Kingdom unit sales declining by 13 percent.
| Third Quarter 2009* Top 5 Video Game Titles
Top Global Markets Report Ranked By Units** |
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| Rank | Title | Corporate Publisher |
Total | US | Japan | UK |
| 1 | DRAGON QUEST IX | SQUARE ENIX | 3,925,000 | -- | 3,925,000 | -- |
| 2 | WII SPORTS RESORT | NINTENDO | 3,014,000 | 1,708,000 | 841,000 | 465,000 |
| 3 | MADDEN NFL 10 | ELECTRONIC ARTS | 2,612,000 | 2,583,000 | -- | 30,000 |
| 4 | POKEMON HEARTGOLD AND SOULSILVER | NINTENDO | 2,068,000 | -- | 2,068,000 | -- |
| 5 | HALO 3: ODST | MICROSOFT | 1,847,000 | 1,521,000 | 33,000 | 294,000 |
Methodology
Top Global Markets Report is an integrated monthly report from leading providers of consumer and retail information in the video games industry, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc. It provides integrated point-of-sale data for video game software sales in the world’s largest games markets.
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/