2007 PC Sales Figures

[GameBanshee News]

Gamasutra brings us the PC sales figures of 2007 and as expected, in a record-setting year they look pretty bleak. Only 14% of Retail Games sold were for the PC. Only Burning Crusade topped a million sales, and only WoW and The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack sold over 400,000, the rest of the PC titles staying below that boundary.

The Entertainment Software Association has highlighted new NPD data on the PC game market, following full-year analysis on the $18.85 billion dollar video game industry pertaining specifically to PC software sales.

Computer retail game sales in the United States totaled $910.7 million, or 36.4 million units, a decrease over last year's results, when PC games sold in a retail setting saw revenue of $970 million.

Following the ESA-trailed results, NPD released the top 10 best-selling PC games of 2007 to online outlets including Gamasutra, revealing two major franchises - Vivendi/Blizzard's World Of Warcraft and Electronic Arts' The Sims - dominating much of the charts.

Note that this excludes digital downloads.

An additional interesting tidbit is that NPD notes only 15.5% of the games sold were rated "Mature".

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Originally Posted by GameBanshee News

Only Burning Crusade topped a million sales, and only WoW and The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack sold over 400,000, the rest of the PC titles staying below that boundary

It really amazes me why The Sims can challenge the best of games when it comes to sales numbers and revenue. Heck, I don't know who even buys all the rubbish EA calls expansions for the original.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Loki[D.d.G]

Heck, I don't know who even buys all the rubbish EA calls expansions for the original.

Fans of the Sims. Who else?

And not to mention that a lot of people still buy EA's sports titles like Madden, NBA and FIFA to name a few even though nothing new is introduced in every new instalment aside from better graphics.

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by Loki[D.d.G]

It really amazes me why The Sims can challenge the best of games when it comes to sales numbers and revenue. Heck, I don't know who even buys all the rubbish EA calls expansions for the original.

I know few women who would.

[dragon wench]

So the question is...

Are the sales bad because PC games are shoved to the back of stores in some dusty corner, or are PC games all but hidden from view because the majority of the market prefers console titles?

Regardless, retail stores could certainly do more to promote PC Games. I've noticed over the last several years that PC titles have become increasingly less prominent in any kind of displays..
Recently I went looking for NWN2/MotB in EB Games. After having to pause and recollect the title, the staff had to go scrounging around in the back room...
Then I discovered they didn't actually have NWN2 in stock...so I abandoned the effort and decided I'll just order the set at some point.

As far as the Sims go... Ugh...