ERA: Modern Warfare 2 UK's Most Popular Entertainment Product of 2009

UK trade organization Entertainment Retailers Association has named Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as the best-selling entertainment product of 2009 in the United Kingdom, as Wii software sales shed 15 percent in revenue, amid market shrinkage. This week, the organization, which represents wholesalers and retailers, released its 2009 Yearbook, a lengthy report which tracks sales of games, videos, and music in the UK. Modern Warfare Wins the UK One of the most interesting revelations is that, at 2,926,637 units, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the overall top-performing retail entertainment release of 2009 in the UK. Silver goes to film Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince, which sold 2,193,700 physical copies. Other games in the overall entertainment sales chart include Electronic Arts' FIFA 10 at third place, Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort at seventh, and Wii Fit at 13th. The Market Takes a Hit According to the ERA, retail game sales dropped over £500 million ($744.15 million) from 2008 to 2009, despite the sector's overall topping of the charts, due to decreased hardware sales. The report says that in the UK, console software sales dropped 11.2 percent year-on-year as hardware sales fell 22.2 percent. Not all platforms were so affected, however. Though Wii software sales, in units, dropped 6 percent, Xbox 360 software rose 13.4 percent and PlayStation 3 software 18.3, which represented the biggest gain. Nintendo DS and Sony PSP software sales dropped precipitously -- 20.4 percent and 29.3 percent respectively. PC retail game sales dropped 24.7 percent. It is worth noting that the report tracks digital sales for music, digital games sales are not included. In terms of revenue, Wii software saw a 15 percent drop, thought the unit sales only dropped 6 percent, demonstrating price shifts at retail. The Top 10 The top 10 selling games of 2009 in the UK, according to the ERA, were: 1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision Blizzard - 2,926,637 copies 2. FIFA 10, Electronic Arts - 2,155,697 copies 3. Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo - 1,488,797 copies 4. Wii Fit, Nintendo - 1,246,461 copies 5. Wii Fit Plus, Nintendo - 968,282 copies 6. Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft - 920,910 copies 7. Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo - 917,863 copies 8. Mario & Sonic at Olympic Winter Games, Sega - 825,027 copies 9. Call of Duty: World at War, Activision Blizzard - 769,726 copies 10. FIFA 09, Electronic Arts - 713,314 copies The full report -- which includes many more statistics about both games and the overall UK entertainment industry -- is available at the ERA's website.