YOUR TEAM • YOUR GAMES • YOUR AWARDS AWARD CRITERIA: Sales performance, Product expectations, Over-achievement
SALES TRIUMPH
SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD (THQ)
This third game in THQʼs unruly crime game out-performed all the publisherʼs expectations and punched above its weight during an incredibly competitive Christmas. Saints Row: The Third was ranked as the No.9 selling game of 2011 and was ranked No.6 in the All Formats Chart-Track list for the critical Christmas week. The publisher says this was achieved through working in close partnership with its channel partners and flawlessly executing on sales and marketing plans. A great achievement for a small publisher in a very aggressive marketplace.
SKYLANDERS: SPYROʼS ADVENTURE
(ACTIVISION) The software bundle for Skylanders was a respectable hit for Activision, making it to No.48 in the 2011 Top 50 – but the real story is the success it made in hardware. The gameʼs cunning use of a collectable figures added up to big revenue numbers for the retailers that helped Activision push this into the marketplace. When you combined software and figurine sales, the game was actually 2011ʼs 13th most cash-generative franchise on the market. It was the best selling brand in the
peripherals/accessories charts, and fresh waves of new figures – plus a Q4 2012 sequel – will keep the franchise prominent and stores like Tesco, Toys ʻRʼ Us and GAME happy. All in all, a considerable achievement for a fresh idea in a market used to relying on staple franchises.
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
(BETHESDA) Skyrim knows a lot about triumph – and we donʼt just mean its swords ʻnʼ sorcery content that has players vanquishing dragons. The triple-A Bethesda RPG was one of the most hotly awaited games of Q4 2011, and sales proved that out. In fact, the game went well beyond expectations, globally shipping seven million units at launch with demand asking for another three million within a month. Here in the UK, it hit the jackpot, achieving the Christmas No.1 and breaking an eight-year stranglehold on the end-of-year chart that had previously been held exclusively by EA and Activision. Plus, sales exceeded a million units in the UK before the year was out. The gameʼs overall performance added considerably to Bethesdaʼs market share for all of 2011.
ZUMBA FITNESS (505 GAMES)
Rightly so, this was a game with the ultimate in stamina levels – boasting 15 weeks at No.1 on the All Formats chart, and an even longer tenure at the top of the Wii charts, this fitness game was one of the sales highlights of 2011. Zumba Fitness went on to become the fourth biggest selling game of the year. Moreover, Zumba Fitness Wii was the best-selling game of 2011 on that platform. All this from a brand which was unknown to the gaming industry a little over 12 months ago. With over 1.5m units sold life to date in the UK and a second Kinect game, Zumba Rush, just launched, the Zumba Fitness juggernaut shows no sign of slowing, let alone stopping.