UK CHARTS: February

The big games of February may have belonged to Sega, Ubisoft and Take-Two, but it was EA that emerged as the biggest publisher last month.

The publisher’s vast back catalogue drove sales, with FIFA 10, Mass Effect 2 and Dante’s Inferno the key products.

Sega was the highest riser in the publisher rankings, courtesy of February’s biggest seller: Aliens vs Predator.

Continued sales of Vancouver 2010, Bayonetta and Mario & Sonic were also a boost for the Japanese publisher last month. Meanwhile, Just Dance, BioShock 2 and Heavy Rain helped Ubisoft, Take-Two and Sony increase their market share.

However, there were small falls for Nintendo, Codemasters, Activision and THQ, with no new titles from the three publishers breaking into the Top 50.

In terms of units of games sold last month, Wii was the most popular platform. However, with many Wii games on sale at budget prices (including Just Dance and Wii Fit Plus), Xbox 360 was the most successful platform in terms of the value of games sold last month.

SOFTWARE MARKET SHARE BY COMPANY – UNITS
(last month in brackets)

1. (1) – ELECTRONIC ARTS (14.4%)
2. (2) – UBISOFT (12.8%)
3. (5) – SEGA (11.4%)
4. (3) – NINTENDO (11.4%
5. (8) – TAKE-TWO (8.2%)
6. (7) – SONY (6.1%)
7. (4) – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD (5.8%)
8. (6) – THQ (4.1%)
9. (9) – MICROSOFT (3.3%)
10. (11) – DISNEY (2.3%)

SOFTWARE MARKET SHARE BY COMPANY – VALUE
(last month in brackets)

1. (1) – ELECTRONIC ARTS (15.5%)
2. (5) – SEGA (15.3%)
3. (3) – NINTENDO (12.0%)
4. (2) – UBISOFT (10.3%)
5. (8) – TAKE-TWO (10.0%)
6. (7) – SONY (7.9%)
7. (4) – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD (7.7%)
8. (6) – THQ (3.7%)
9. (9) – MICROSOFT (2.5%)
10. (12) – DISNEY (1.5%)

ALL FORMATS TOP 50

1. ALIENS VS PREDATOR (SEGA)
2. JUST DANCE (UBISOFT)
3. BIOSHOCK 2 (TAKE-TWO)
4. CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 (ACTIVISION)
5. HEAVY RAIN (SONY)
6. FIFA 10 (EA)
7. WII SPORTS RESORT (NINTENDO)
8. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS WII (NINTENDO)
9. MASS EFFECT 2 (EA)
10. WII FIT PLUS (NINTENDO)
11. DANTE’S INFERNO (EA)
12. MARIO & SONIC AT THE WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (SEGA)
13. JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR: THE GAME (UBISOFT)
14. FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (MICROSOFT)
15. LEGO BATMAN (WARNER)
16. MARIO KART WII (NINTENDO)
17. ARMY OF TWO: THE 40TH DAY (EA)
18. BAYONETTA (SEGA)
19. MAG (SONY)
20. ASSASSIN’S CREED II (UBISOFT)
21. PEPPA PIG: THE GAME (UBISOFT)
22. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV (ROCKSTAR)
23. VANCOUVER 2010 (SEGA)
24. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS (NINTENDO)
25. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010 (SEGA)
26. UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (SONY)
27. MX VS ATV REFLEX (THQ)
28. BORDERLANDS (2K GAMES)
29. PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2010 (KONAMI)
30. SONIC & SEGA ALL-STARS RACING (SEGA)
31. THE SIMS 3: DESIGN & HIGH-TECH STUFF (EA)
32. WII PLAY (NINTENDO)
33. MADDEN NFL 10 (EA)
34. DARKSIDERS (THQ)
35. PURE (DISNEY)
36. WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2010 (THQ)
37. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SPIRIT TRACKS (NINTENDO)
38. UP (THQ)
39. NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT (EA)
40. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (EA)
41. CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (ACTIVISION)
42. LEGO INDIANA JONES 2 (LUCASARTS)
43. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10 (EA)
44. GTA EPISODES: LIBERTY CITY (ROCKSTAR)
45. ASSASSIN’S CREED (UBISOFT)
46. THE SIMS 3 (EA)
47. OPERATION FLASHPOINT: DRAGON RISING (CODEMASTERS)
48. MARIO KART DS (NINTENDO)
49. STAR TREK ONLINE (ATARI/NAMCO BANDAI)
50. LEGO INDIANA JONES (LUCASARTS)

Source: ELSPA GfK Chart-Track