According to recent findings from Top Global Markets, an integrated monthly report from leading providers of consumer and retail information in the video games industry, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc., combined video game software unit sales across the world’s three largest games markets experienced a decline of 6 percent during third-quarter (Q3) 2009 (July-September).

The Japanese software market saw unit sales increase by 15 percent vs. the 20 percent decline it experienced during the same time period in 2008. Console software and portable software saw positive unit growth in Japan, with respective increases of 7 percent and 19 percent. However, year-to-date (YTD) sales for Japan’s software market experienced a 9 percent decline.

With a decline of 19 percent, the United Kingdom experienced the largest aggregate drop in unit sales, followed by United States’ 9 percent decline. UK portable game software experienced a loss in unit sales of 34 percent, followed by console software with a decline of 12 percent. In the United States, console software and portable game software experienced declines of 8 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

Year-to-date unit sales in the United States and the United Kingdom experienced declines in both console software and portable game software, with total unit sales for the United States declining 8 percent, and United Kingdom unit sales declining by 13 percent.

Third Quarter 2009^* Top 5 Video Game Titles

Top Global Markets Report

Ranked By Units^**

 Source: Top Global Markets Report / Retail Tracking Service, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and EnterBrain.

*July - September 2009

**Unit sales figures rounded – due to rounding, the sum of the individual countries may not equal the Total for certain titles