Tag Archives: Games Sales

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sells 4.7 million copies in one month

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World of Warcraft Cataclysm Train2Game Blog Image

Train2Game students certainly weren’t the only people hyped for the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm last month, with Activision Blizzard revealing that 4.7 million copies of the expansion have been sold worldwide.

The huge success of Cataclysm – a game which has more than likely stolen the lives of many Train2Game students – means that it has set a new record for monthly PC game sales.   The previous record holder was another World of Warcraft expansion in the form of  Wrath of the Lich King.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was released on December 7th and sold 3.3 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours.  Here in the UK, it managed to reach third in the All Formats chart.

“We created thousands of new quests, introduced new lands to explore, and extensively revamped the game world for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, making it our biggest and most ambitious expansion yet,” said CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime.

“We’ve been floored by the community’s response so far, and we’d like to thank them for their continued passion and support for World of Warcraft, and for helping Cataclysm reach this incredible milestone.”

Prior to the launch of Cataclysm 12 million players – including many Train2Game students – held monthly subscriptions for World of Warcraft.

2010 was a good year Activision Blizzard’s PC releases, with Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty selling over three million copies during its first month on sale.

Today UKIE revealed the top selling games of 2010. In the PC Chart, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was fourth.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm? Are you impressed by the sales numbers? If you’re still playing, how are you finding it?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Activision Blizzard]

UK has ‘best week ever’ for video games sales

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Moneys

The launches of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Kinect for the Xbox 360 have helped the UK experience its biggest week of all time for game sales.

Call of Duty: Black Ops topped the UK chart with 1.4 million sales, breaking a number of UK records in the process. Meanwhile the release of Kinect and its 11 launch titles also contributed to the rise in sales.

Week 45 of 2010 has therefore become the biggest grossing week of all time for video games in the UK, with an estimated total of almost £114 million. The previous record holding week for games sales was the final week of 2008 which grossed £107.6 million.

Michael Rawlinson, Director General of video games trade body UKIE said:

“The video games and interactive entertainment industry has already seen a great start to quarter 4 2010 and the success of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Microsoft’s Kinect adds to this. The positive sales figures of titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops, new hardware launches like Kinect, the emergence of casual/mobile games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope and social networking games such as Farmville show that video games and other forms of interactive entertainment continue to be played by more people than ever – with 1 in 3 people in the UK now being gamers.”

“Given the huge audiences for games on all formats, 2010 has been a year of unprecedented activity and focus. And with more video games than ever before being played, on an ever growing range of games consoles, PCs, mobile phones, mobile devices and internet enabled TVs, the industry has widened beyond all expectations and will continue to expand exponentially in 2011.”

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on this weeks’ boom in video games sales? Does it bode well for the game development industry as a whole? Does this news make you feel even more confident about your decision to pursue a job in the games industry?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum

Starcraft II sells over three million in a month

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Starcraft IIStarcraft II: Wings of Liberty has sold over three million copies worldwide in just its first month on release according to publisher Activision Blizzard.

The long anticipated Starcraft II was released simultaneously worldwide on July 27th with many eager Starcraft fans attending midnight launches in order to be among the first to get their hands on the RTS sequel.

Starcraft II was a massive success, with 1.5 million copies Blizzard’s title being sold in the first 48 hours of release, making Starcraft II the fastest selling strategy game of all time.

Naturally, Starcraft II had no trouble topping the UK Charts in its first week on release, an impressive achievement given that downloaded copies of Wings of Liberty weren’t counted in the chart at the time.

These strong sales have given Starcraft II the momentum required to push past the three million copies sold mark, further cementing Wings of Liberty’s position as the most successful PC game of 2010 so far. With three million copies sold, it seems unlikely that anything will be removing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty from its position of most successful PC game of the year.

Activision Blizzard will no doubt be well on the way to recouping the supposed $100 million Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty cost to produce.

Naturally, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime is pleased with the success of Starcraft II.

“We appreciate all the enthusiasm that players around the world have shown for StarCraft II.”

“It was important to us to deliver an overall gameplay experience that was accessible, balanced, and fun, and it’s been gratifying to see how strongly the global community has already embraced the game.”

With Starcraft II being divided into three instalments, it’s likely that Activision Blizzard will have more success with the franchise in future. However, there’s no word yet on when the second part of Starcraft II will be released.

So Train2Game, have you picked up a copy of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty in the month it’s been on sale? If so, is it really that amazing?  How much are you looking forward to the next instalment of the Starcraft II franchise? And will anything else released this year topple Starcraft II from its position of most successful PC game of 2010?

You can leave your thoughts on Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, or the Starcraft franchise in general, here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.