UK CHARTS: November 2011

At last, UK games retail has reason to cheer following a strong month of sales. But November wasn’t all about Call of Duty:?Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin’s Creed:?Revelations.

Back in?2009, terrified publishers ran away from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, delaying their games into 2010.

This year, Activision’s competition did no such thing, and November was chock full of big releases. In fact, one publisher dared release its title in the same week as the FPS.

Hats off to Bethesda. The firm knew it had a quality game on its hands (Metacritic score of 96) and backed it strongly. As a result, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the month’s second biggest seller.

That’s not to say the congested schedule was a good thing.

Ubisoft had a good month thanks to Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Just Dance 3. However, the predecessor for both of these games charted higher in November 2010.

It was the same story for Need for Speed. This year’s title The Run crossed the finishing line in 17th place, whereas 2010’s Hot Pursuit reached No.8. The Run also didn’t score as well critically. But with the talent at its disposal, we can expect EA to get the series back on track for its next lap.

Individual format Top 10s

PS3 – full price

1Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Activision
2 Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Sony
3 Battlefield 3–EA
4 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda
5 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations–Ubisoft
6 Fifa 12–EA
7 Saints Row: The Third–THQ
8 Batman: Arkham City–Warner Bros.
9 Need For Speed: The Run–EA
10 WWE ‘12–THQ

Xbox 360 – full price

1Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Activision
2The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda
3Battlefield 3–EA
4Assassin’s Creed: Revelations –Ubisoft
5Saints Row: The Third–THQ
6FIFA 12–EA
7Forza Motorsport 4–Microsoft
8Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary–Microsoft
9Batman: Arkham City–Warner Bros.
10Kinect Sports: Season Two –Microsoft

Wii – full price

1Just Dance 3–Ubisoft
2Zumba Fitness–505 Games
3Zelda: Skyward Sword–Nintendo
4Mario & Sonic London 2012 –Sega
5Wii Party–Nintendo
6Mario Kart Wii–Nintendo
7Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure–Activision
8FIFA 12–EA
9LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7–Warner Bros.
10uDraw Studio –THQ

PC – full price

1The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda
2Football Manager 2012–Sega
3Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Activision
4Battlefield 3–EA
5The Sims 3: Pets –EA
6The Sims 3–EA
7The Sims 3: Generations–EA
8Batman: Arkham City–Warner Bros.
9Saints Row: The Third–THQ
10The Sims 3: Late Night–EA

Major movers

UP

• Activision returns to the summit for the first time in almost a year
• Bethesda is flying high after huge sales of its latest Elder Scrolls
• 3DS rises thanks to its first original triple-A title, Mario 3D Land
• Skylanders. The new Spyro game sold more in November than October

DOWN

• Need for Speed fails to match last year’s success
• Microsoft’s market share. Not even a Halo game could help
• PC’s retail market share fell month-on-month