What you can learn from 2006's top 100 selling games

by Blake Snow { Feb 12th 2007 at 2:15PM }

Next-Gen has compiled a thorough analysis of 2006's top 100 selling games according to NPD figures. The report includes several useful tidbits for those business savvy individuals keeping tabs on the industry as well as an interesting comparison of how well the top-ranked games actually sell. Here's a few highlights:

Only three games in the top 20 had an average review score of less than 75%.
Exclusive games work; 35% of the top-sellers were released on just one platform.
Sports games are the largest genre with EA dominating the sector as well as being the largest publisher.

Read on for chart goodness, data interpretation galore, and the complete list of 2006's 100 best selling games. Liberal arts majors beware.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Myke @ Feb 12th 2007 2:21PM

Holy wow, I had no idea that racing games did that poorly. Is that just a one-year thing or have racing games always bombed that hard? I own at least 3 or 4 racing games for every system I own, very hard to believe. Also, Platformers are a huge suprise to me. Aren't ratchet and clank and sly cooper considered platformers? Those games always do pretty well, granted there aren't released in great numbers so I suppose them being great games is a moot point, sales wise.

Dave @ Feb 12th 2007 2:22PM

What this chart does NOT show is how many games of a particular type were released. That makes a huge difference. You still may have a better chance succeeding with RPGs, for example, rather than sports games if a higher percentage of RPGs released were bestselling titles.

Marty @ Feb 12th 2007 2:23PM

RPG's are about a fifth of Sports? Wouldn't have expected that, from all the frenzy that surrounds those types of games. Is this for the US only? For the last year only?

Foil_Goon @ Feb 12th 2007 2:23PM

Only genre I care about for the "next gen" is other, We need more new and different games, we are constantly falling into the guide lines of what the genre is instead of actually progressing video games.

We have 3 excellent consoles that can each do something amazing and different, its time to do it. If we don't we'll just end up with more crappy sonic the hedgehog multi-platform crap games and anime rip offs.

Elroc @ Feb 12th 2007 2:24PM

Shame it doesn't reflect profitability per genre, I think you would find MMO's at the top because of the subscription model.

CowboyGA @ Feb 12th 2007 2:32PM

HERE'S THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEMS:

-------------------------------------------------
"Wii and PS3 have not been a factor; they released
too late in the year. Apart from a few exceptions, Xbox and GameCube barely register. Gameboy and PSP made up the numbers.

The PC market has been included here as an illustration of its comparative size to the console market. Apart from PC megahits of WoW or Sims proportions (neither of which were released last year), PC games were not a major factor."
----------------------------------------------------

Racing games on handhelds? I'm surprised that my beloved sports games did so well with the above factored in.

ALH @ Feb 12th 2007 2:46PM

'Also, Platformers are a huge surprise to me.'

I think youre forgetting that a lot of the 'licensed' games in that pile are likely to be talking animal CG movie cash in platformers. There arent that many platformeres released beyond those really

VampireHunter Z @ Feb 12th 2007 2:56PM

@3

RPGs are only hyped on Internet forums like these. The people who buy all those Madden games don't come to places like this. RPG gamers are a minority but they are very loud so people would think these games do better.

I don't think a lot of racing games get released. I know Cars did great in Europe but I'm not sure what category it falls under since it's more than racing.

Jake @ Feb 12th 2007 3:10PM

If you actually go to the article and page all the way through the individual titles it is quite interesting. It goes to show you that hardcores like us that come to these sites don't make up for a very large portion of the market. And the last page shows you that game quality by critical ranking doesn't really matter.

This industry is pushed by teh kiddy and teh sports junkies if you look at game sales. Here are the top 4 sellers last year.

1 Madden
2 Cars
3 Lego Star Wars
4 NCAA football

Ughh. That list makes me cringe. It is impressive, though, that Gears of War made it to number 6, despite it releasing on a console with low userbase. Game of the Year for a reason, I guess. New Mario was #5, and it is a throwback game of sorts. Both very good, at least. Unlike Cars and Lego SW. Madden and NCAA I would argue aren't that good, but you can't get football anywhere else and football is the best sport on earth ever.

Read through the whole thing, though. Best game related article in a while. Very insightful. I was also surprised at how well the 360 did considering its average userbase through the year is quite low. I mean, GC owners must not have been gaming last year or got a DC or something because there was very little from it despite it being Nintendo's only current console. And Okami didn't sell for crap considering how critically acclaimed it was. Weird.

I don't know, the whole article just makes you go wtf? It kind of shows you that "quality" isn't everything.

Shagittarius @ Feb 12th 2007 3:19PM

"Any would-be game publishers looking at these stats would come away with one of two strategies. Either, to create an absolutely amazing game on few platforms (Gears; Zelda; Oblivion; New Super Mario; Guitar Hero) or to sign up an animated movie and release it on every platform conceivable."

+ This is the exact reason why you don't want a casual market driving your software sales. Hardcore gamers consume more games and buy titles that deserve to be bought. The casual gamer either doesn't know or doesn't care...and this is why the Wii will ultimately be relegated to 'party machine' and nothing more.

Vidikron @ Feb 12th 2007 3:21PM

@9

Lego SW is not a bad game. It's actually, on average, rated much higher than Cars. So it's unfair to classify those two together, IMO.

NintendoFanbot @ Feb 12th 2007 3:34PM

To be honest, I read throught that 100 Top Selling games list and the Averaged ratings givent to 90% of them are lower than public perception, some more accurate than others, but still.

Jake @ Feb 12th 2007 3:38PM

@11

I agree that SW Lego is much better than Cars. But, it was the 3rd highest selling game last year. I hardly consider it deserving of that spot. It goes to show you that teh kiddies and sport-casual gamers are really drive software sales. Not that no adult on earth got lego sw, but I guarantee it had a very high child/adult owner ratio.

Andy @ Feb 12th 2007 3:41PM

"Exclusive games work; 35% of the top-sellers were released on just one platform."
65% of the games were multi-platform, meaning they work more often, right?

RE:Jake

Games released in the later half of the year are at a disadvantage because their sales are more likely to spill over to the next year. Thus GOW will most likely sell more than Cars in the long run.

Mr Khan @ Feb 12th 2007 3:57PM

@ Shaggitarius

Nintendo, as a developer, has more of a presence in the hardcore community than any other single developer, thus they will be able to deliver solid hardcore games to appease our set

Wii's hardware sales (and the sale of a few offbeat titles) will be driven by the casuals
But the hardcore will consume the games (and downloadables)

Jason @ Feb 12th 2007 4:18PM

NPD numbers do not include sales numbers from japan and they also don't include numbers from some North American retailers such as Wal-mart. I'm sure if you added in Japanese numbers, you'd see a significant difference in the RPG category with a nominal increase in the sports category.

Matt @ Feb 12th 2007 4:23PM

@ Jason

While NPD does not include some North American retailers, Walmart is not one of them. Also, NPD calculates the errors for the retailers it does not include and adjusts their estimates accordingly. NPD numbers are a statistically acceptable analysis of the North American market.

Joop @ Feb 12th 2007 4:43PM

"Exclusive games work; 35% of the top-sellers were released on just one platform."

Good data can be used to 'prove' almost anything if the person who's parsing it doesn't know what they are doing.

This bit of information doesn't tell us that exclusive games work. It tells us that exclusive games CAN work if they are of exceptional quality, while multiplatform games of lower quality will still outsell exceptional exclusives on the average.

That's just plain common sense, though. 3rd party developers do not like exclusives because it limits their total possible sales. A multiplatform game can still outsell an exclusive game that has a much higher adoption rate.

Jake @ Feb 12th 2007 4:43PM

@Andy

I sure hope that you are right. It would be a travesty if Gears didn't someday sell more copies than Cars. But, Cars does have a pretty solid lead. It sold 2.6 million copies and it sucks. That is scary.

Beaudry @ Feb 12th 2007 4:54PM

People here are gamers, but they may not realize the popularity of the Madden franchise. It is one of the top selling games every single year. Many people will buy 1 new game every year: Madden.

Madikai @ Feb 12th 2007 5:21PM

So, we have the counts for where the top 100 games fit for genres, and I can accept that, now, if only they put out a graph with profits from each of the different divisions, or possibly numbers sold. I know that by pure quantity that sports and licenses would still dominate, but, it would also give more of an idea as to where things fall for sales and popularity of a genre.

3cubedminus3squared @ Feb 12th 2007 7:43PM

LOL
Hanna Montana for the DS sold more than Resistance.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4691&Itemid=46&limit=1&limitstart=7

Matthew @ Feb 12th 2007 7:57PM

None of this is surprising. The other day I was talking videogames with a guy who asked what a good game to get would be. Oh, God of War, Resident Evil 4, I say. He says someone just got him Ford Racing, he just bought True Crime, Madden 08, and he wants to get Big Mutha Truckers. I told him all of those games sucked balls, he didn't seem to care. This is the market people, start crying.

Joop @ Feb 12th 2007 9:04PM

@23

Ever think that maybe he just has different taste than you? I'd say God of War was more heavily marketed than Big Mutha Truckers was.

Look at all the hunting/fishing games that keep getting made. I've never seen a commercial for any of them, yet games in that genre keep coming out and keep selling.

Shagittarius @ Feb 12th 2007 9:44PM

@Mr Khan

Thats why the first party Nintendo titles do well, they attract both casual and hardcore gamers. This is the same situation as it was on the Gamecube.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...and look where my Wii was...

Tom @ Feb 13th 2007 4:28AM

How is "Licenses" a genre?

Galley @ Feb 13th 2007 9:06AM

80% of the games I buy are racing games. I guess I'm just a freak.

Slaziman @ Feb 13th 2007 9:09AM

Ok time for math class

Nintendo = best developer in the world (games developer, on average)

Wii bought by casual gamers = $$$ for Nintendo + big install base

Best developer in the world + $$$ = MOAR GOOD GAMES
Big install base + 3RD party devs = MORE GAMES (some good some bad)

Gamecube != popular with casuals

-> Small install base, weak 3RD party support
-> Nintendo gets no $$$

Nintendo + no $$$ = slow releases of games, not much new IPs

Small install base + 3RD party devs = almost no games apart from the slow nintendo games