Gamasutra has published a list of the top 10 selling games of 2010 using research figures supplied by NPD. The figures only include US sales between January and September. Also, the chart only includes retail sales, so digital sales are excluded, which pretty much counts PC game sales out of the equation since an estimated 50% of PC game sales are now digital.
The list reports the top selling SKUs. An SKU refers to a specific platform version of a game.
Top 10 selling SKUs of 2010
1. Halo: Reach (360)
2. New Super Mario Bros (Wii)
3. Red Dead Redemption (360)
4. Pokemon Soulsilver Version (DS)
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
6. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
7. God of War III (PS3)
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360)
9. Just Dance (Wii)
10. Wii Sports Resort with Motion Plus (Wii)
Despite only being released last month, Microsoft’s Halo: Reach has stormed ahead of the competition. No sign of some of the year’s early big titles, such as Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Heavy Rain or Bioshock 2. As usual, Nintendo takes top honour in terms of sales, with 6 of the top 10 being released on their flagship console.
Top 10 selling games of September 2010 (platforms combined)
1. Halo: Reach – 3,300,000 units
2. Madden NFL 11
3. Dead Rising 2 – 370,000 units
4. NHL 11
5. FIFA Soccer 11
6. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep – 225,000 units
7. Mafia II
8. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
9. Metroid: Other M
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Local distributors are stubborn when it comes to sharing sales data on specific titles, but various retailers have been able to confirm that our biggest sellers this year have been StarCraft II, Bad Company 2, as well as many mentioned in the list. Contrary to international trends, many games still sell strongest on PC in South Africa.