Weekly PC Sales: Now with Steam

June 8, 2009 10:03 AM

At long last, digital distribution outlet Steam has joined NPD and Direct2Drive in providing weekly sales data, providing for a wider view of the PC gaming landscape.

Of course, there's a twist. Steam lists its weekly sales by revenue, instead of unit sales, so comparisons between NPD's retail charts and D2D's downloads aren't valid. Regardless, it's more information than we had before, which is always nice.

Charts for the week of 5/24 - 5/30 follow below. Remember, NPD only tracks retail sales in North America, while Steam and D2D provide a glimpse of worldwide download sales. Lastly, expect The Sims 3, which hit on June 2, to dominate next week's listings.

NPD's Top Ten (5/24 - 5/30)

The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $20
World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King / Blizzard / $39
Spore / EA Maxis / $40
World Of Warcraft Battle Chest / Blizzard / $40
World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20
Empire: Total War / Creative Assembly / $49
Reel Deal Slots Adventure / Phantom EFX / $20
Civilization IV: The Complete Edition / Firaxis / $40
The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack / EA Maxis / $20
Left 4 Dead / Valve / $29

Direct2Drive's Top Ten (5/24 - 5/30)

BioShock / 2K Boston, 2K Australia
Civilization IV / Firaxis
X-Com Complete Bundle (UFO Defense, Terror from the Deep, Interceptor, Enforcer, Apocalypse) / Take-Two (Publisher)
The Sims 3 (Pre Order) / The Sims Studio
Delta Force: Xtreme 2 / NovaLogic
Sid Meier's Railroads / Firaxis
The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword / Firaxis
Civilization IV: The Complete Edition / Firaxis
Sid Meier's Pirates / Firaxis

Steam Weekly Top Sellers (by revenue, as of 5/24 - 5/30):

Team Fortress 2 / Valve
Killing Floor / Tripwire
Left 4 Dead / Valve
Counter-Strike: Source / Valve
Plants vs. Zombies / PopCap
The Orange Box / Valve
Unreal Deal Pack (Unreal Gold, U2, Unreal Tournament, UT2004, UT3) / Epic
Unreal Tournament 3 Black / Epic
Assassin's Creed / Ubisoft Montreal
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare / Infinity Ward

Special thanks to everyone who notified us of the Steam Weekly Sales chart.

Chris Faylor

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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tfsbrian

 reply
June 8, 2009 10:14 AM

So, did the sims 3 live up to it's hype?
- kurumba
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:20 AM
  
  apparently so. My friend hated both Sims 1 and 2 but really seems to be enjoying it so far. The reviews have also been mostly posetive
- baron calamity
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:27 AM
  
  Personally, so far yes but its a bigger change than I was expecting.
- sanewave
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:28 AM
  
  waiting till it hits steam.... if it ever does
  - ajvitaly
    
     reply
    June 8, 2009 10:46 AM
    
    I wonder if it ever will. It seems like EA "experimented" with Steam releases, but Direct2Drive and Gamersgate carry more of their recent offerings while Steam does not.
  - carbontree
    
     reply
    June 8, 2009 10:47 AM
    
    It might. EA pretty much abandoned their effort to compete with Steam and dumped most of their new catalog on there. However, no Sims game has made it onto Steam yet, so time will tell.
    
    Can't understand why they wouldn't. Afterall, Steam supports DLC now, and more platforms = more money for EA. And if there's one thing EA is into, it's more moneys.
    - schnitz76
      
       reply
      June 8, 2009 11:44 AM
      
      Steam may support DLC but it does NOT support mixing steam/retail (non-standalone) expansions.
      
      Until Valve can figure out how to allow someone to mix and match disc based games and dependent expansions then I don't think the Sims will ever come to steam. I can't imagine some little girl trying to explain to her (great)grandparents that she needs the expansion to the Sims *3* for Christmas *and* granny you have to login to steam to buy it for me because my daddy bought me my copy of Sims 3 from steam. Come Dec 26th I think EA tech support would be praying for the relative calm of the Spore DRM uprising.
    - K1Bond007
      
       reply
      June 8, 2009 1:15 PM
      
      I think it will and I think Valve has specifically catered to EA by fixing up Steam to handle DLCs (aka expansions which obviously the Sims 3 will have 20 of).
- OverloadUT
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:38 AM
  
  In my opinion yes.
- nevlos
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:46 AM
  
  The girlfriend played nonstop all weekend. And I got to finish fallout 3!
  - etherealrhythm
    
     reply
    June 8, 2009 2:02 PM
    
    Hahaha, same here. She's fucking living on it. Must be a girl thing...
  - huntmasters
    
     reply
    June 8, 2009 9:56 PM
    
    It does seem to be a girl thing. My sister installed sims 2 on her netbook and played the game all weekend as well. I made sure to point it out to her, seeing as she likes to state her opinions when I have a long gaming sesion.
- mastermike569
  
   reply
  June 8, 2009 10:56 AM
  
  I liked the Sims 3, I have very minor complaints about the game which will more than likely be taken care of in expansions.
  
  1. You cannot see your Sim enter some building, such as the towns restaurant. I kinda liked what they did in the Sims 2 nightlife expansion pack for this.
  
  2. Some of the Sims you meet and date do not have a valid home you can enter or find. Sucks when you want to know where they live to visit them. In my case, i knocked up a girl i work with and had twins but i didnt have her living with me so now i cant find out where she lives to visit them. (i had a weird love triangle where i was banging my boss and other co-workers) Which is also weird, you can woohoo your boss but cant cuddle with them.
  
  3. Sims still get blocked by other sims and it takes them an awful long time to move or step around the other sim.
  
  4. You cannot do a faster fast forward, such as when your Sim is sleeping, you gotta wait 5 minutes just for the sim to finish sleeping. Frustrating!
  
  Other than that, the game is pretty cool.