EA Knocked Off The Top-Spot News
Gwynne Dixon
24/07/2007
Activision are the first company to outsell the burgeoning publisher in 10 years...
A games publisher has outsold EA in the US for the first time in a decade according to MCV. Sales figures from the market research firm NPD Group show that total sales revenue between January and June 2007 for Activision were almost $400 million, whereas EA's were $365.7 million.
The report was originally picked up by next-gen in the LA Times and the rise in Activision's fortunes has been attributed to a number of high profile franchises such as Guitar Hero. Other big name brands, such as Call of Duty and Tony Hawk, have also been cited under Activision's success as well as shrewd development studio acquisitions playing a part as well.
"For 17 years, I've focused on becoming the No1 video game company, and we're getting a lot closer to achieving that objective," said Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick.
"We've never been better positioned as a company to take advantage of the growth in the video game industry."
However, it should be noted that some of EA's biggest titles in the US, such as Madden NFL 08, are still to be released in the second half of 2007.