The NPD Group today announced that it has formed an alliance with sales-tracking services around the world, including Gfk Chart-Track of Europe and Japan-based Enterbrain. The partnership allows NPD to release a global sales chart each month, providing the industry with a comparative view of the top five video game software titles by the top three markets – North America, Europe, and Japan.

“The video games business has become increasingly global, with the majority of the publishers releasing games in multiple markets,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “The U.S, as the world’s largest market will be able to view and compare sales for the first time outside of their own market.”

NPD sent over the first Top Global Markets Report today, covering year-to-date figures from January 2008 to July 2008. The data reveals Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV as the top selling title this year with 6,293,000 units sold combined in North America and Europe. Runner-up in all three regions was Super Smash Bros. Brawl at 5,433,000 units sold worldwide. Moving on, Mario Kart Wii pushed 4,697,000 units, Wii Fit sold 3,604,000 units, and Guitar Hero III sold 3,475,000 units.

For the complete sales breakdown by region, hit the jump.

LEADING MARKET RESEARCH FIRMS JOIN FORCES TO PROVIDE FIRST MULTI-CONTINENT VIEW OF VIDEO GAME SOFTWARE SALES

New Report Provides Comprehensive View of Global Video Games Sales
in World’s Largest Games Markets

NEW YORK, TOKYO, LONDON, August 21, 2008 – Leading providers of consumer and retail information in the video games industry, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc., today announced the release of Top Global Markets Report, the first report to integrate point-of-sale (POS) data for video game software sales in the world’s largest games markets.

The leading games information sources in the U.S, U.K. and Japan – the largest games markets in the world – have joined forces to provide the gaming industry with a single source for sales data providing detailed insight into what’s happening in these important markets.

Top Global Markets Report gives the video game industry the ability to equip itself with a monthly report that provides jointly-contributed, title-level video games software sales by country. Data can be viewed as an integrated total market view or as side-by-side country comparisons.

“The video games business has become increasingly global, with the majority of the publishers releasing games in multiple markets,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “The U.S, as the world’s largest market will be able to view and compare sales for the first time outside of their own market.”

The report allows users to track titles, unit sales and share, as well as dollar sales and revenue share in order to quickly respond to shifts in the marketplace. It gives users the ability to know the market and competitors across countries in order to analyze and respond to global gaming market trends.

“We are excited to be working more closely with NPD and Enterbrain,” said John Pinder, Managing Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited. “This partnership represents a great opportunity to benefit not only our clients but the industry as a whole by providing a comprehensive, industry-supported view of sales across the three largest video game markets,

“We are very grateful to start such a valuable service and alliance with NPD and GfK Chart-Track Limited,” said Hirokazu Hamamura, President, Enterbrain, Inc. “This service gives us the ability to better help game publishers and developers by providing them with a more global view of market performance.”

Year-to-Date* Top 5 Video Game Titles
Top Global Markets Report
Ranked By Units**

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
Total: 6,293,000
North America: 4,711,000
Europe: 1,582,000

SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL
Total: 5,433,000
North America: 3,539,000
Europe: 213,000
Japan: 1,681,000

MARIO KART WII
Total: 4,697,000
North America: 2,409,000
Europe: 687,000
Japan: 1,601,000

WII FIT
Total: 3,604,000
North America: 1,433,000
Europe: 624,000
Japan: 1,547,000

GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK
Total: 3,475,000
North America: 3,037,000
Europe: 412,000
Japan: 26,000

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