StarCraft II Outsells StarCraft in the UK

[John Funk]

StarCraft II Outsells StarCraft in the UK

In just a week, StarCraft II has sold more copies in the UK than its venerable elder brother StarCraft had sold over twelve years.

And they say PC gaming is dead: RTS kingpin StarCraft zerg rushed sales charts following its midnight launch last week. It topped the all-formats chart in the UK, knocking the entire list down a spot - becoming the first PC-exclusive title to do so in all of 2010 (and presumably since The Sims 3).

According to factoring in digital distribution [http://www.chart-track.co.uk/?i=904&s=1111].

Back in 1998, StarCraft entered the all-format charts at #24, and wasn't even the best-selling PC game of the week (that honor went to Star Wars Supremacy). My, how things change.

Here's the full list:

[blockquote]Top 10 UK Software Sales (All Formats); week ending July 31:

1. StarCraft 2
2. Toy Story 3
3. Red Dead Redemption
4. Dance on Broadway
5. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
6. Just Dance
7. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
[/blockquote]

Come back tomorrow for Greg Tito's official Escapist verdict!

(Via Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/02/starcraft-2-claims-top-spot-on-uk-sales-charts/])

Permalink

 

[Xocrates]

Whoa! Those are some impressive news.

Some hard numbers would be nice though.

 

[Enigmers]

I'm surprised - it's not even a multi-platform game.

 

[Dirty Apple]

While it warms my heart to see a PC title at the top of any sales list, I'm starting to get the impression that I'm in a rapidly shrinking minority that is not peeing its pants at the thought of playing this game. I have no doubt that it's an ammazing experience, but I just can't bring myself to go out and get it.

 

[The DSM]

Its impressive considering that its only PC

Also some of the stuff on there like Dance on Boradway and Just Dance really show that there is a huge casual gamer market here in the U.K...

 

[DominicxD]

"8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"

What.

Are people just like, buy additional copies of the game or something?

OT: How much did it actually sell? I don't see any figures there.

 

[The Austin]

I'm surprised. I honestly had no idea that StarCraft was such a big deal, I thought it was just another RTS.

 

[Mordwyl]

While it warms my heart to see a PC title at the top of any sales list, I'm starting to get the impression that I'm in a rapidly shrinking minority that is not peeing its pants at the thought of playing this game. I have no doubt that it's an ammazing experience, but I just can't bring myself to go out and get it.

You're not alone. It's a nice game, yes, but I'm not really ecstatic about it. Then again I preferred their Warcraft RTSes over that so that may be bias.

 

[FlameUnquenchable]

Good to see a PC game at the top. I've been playing this since release, and it has been well worth my money, but I did enjoy the original. Not saying its for everyone, if you don't like resource gathering, micromanaging RTS games, all the flashy cutscenes and improvements won't really make you care much to go out and play through the campaign, let alone do multiplayer.

But with the enhanced Map Editor, that I've played around with for a few hours, I think that multiplayer will be as varied in Map Types as the old Starcraft was. It's fairly easy to use like the old editor, and more powerful, so you'll see a lot of RPG type maps out, as well as custom multiplayer vs maps.

Glad it's doing well in the UK, wonder what the sales are for the US and Korea?

 

[Kiefer13]

Seeing a PC game at the top of the charts makes me happy. It feels like we PC gamers have been increasingly marginalised as of late, in favour of the larger console audience. It's nice to know that PC-only games can still compete. I'm still not sure whether I'll buy Starcraft II or not myself though. I never played the original, I was always more of a Command & Conquer fan.

 

[HK_01]

Wow, that's insane! I never thought it would outsell Starcraft so quick.

 

[Tortoiseloz]

I live in Wales (look it up!) and I had pre-ordered it so yeah........ GO ZERG!!!!!

 

[Nimzar]

All hail the PC as true gaming platform!!

Anyway, impressive... Grats, Blizz.

 

[Alar]

I'd still like to see some exact sales numbers, though. If they've sold more copies than the original did in a lifetime, that means the UK has sold about four million, roughly?

 

[Banana Phone Man]

I'm staggered by how much it sold in just the first week. When you think of how well Starcraft did over it's lifetime it makes me wonder what fantasmical number Starcraft 2 will achieve in a few years.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Also some of the stuff on there like Dance on Boradway and Just Dance really show that there is a huge casual gamer market here in the U.K...

What in God's name...? I have seen no adverts for them, or even heard of them. How did anyone discover their existence and buy them?

 

[L4hlborg]

I'm a bit surprised that it's this popular even if it's more expensive than your average new pc game (atleast in Finland). Usually people complain about overpricing.

On the other hand, it's pretty much the most hyped game of the century, so that explains a bit. It gets WoW users to buy it, being a Blizzard game, it gets RTS players to buy it for being RTS quality and it gets Koreans because they seem to like Starcraft there. And yes, I know that South Korea is not situated in the UK, but because it will be one of the main market areas for the game, I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[Jared]

Heh, dosnt surprise me. I have seeb so many shops selling out, its rediculous!

 

[Delusibeta]

Also some of the stuff on there like Dance on Boradway and Just Dance really show that there is a huge casual gamer market here in the U.K...

What in God's name...? I have seen no adverts for them, or even heard of them. How did anyone discover their existence and buy them?

Adverts. Just Dance was very savy in sponsoring Pineapple Dance Studios (a Sky 1 show that documents the activity in the titular dance studio in London) and Dance on Broadway has been advertising heavily, mainly in the daytime on digital channels.