LittleBigPlanet Not Doomed in Sales?

You might have been worried over the sales of the PlayStation 3 gem, LittleBigPlanet. However, ESPLA Chart Track has given LittleBigPlanet a Silver sales award for November 2008.

Lets just make this clear, the Silver award is given to titles that sell more than one-hundred-thousand units in that particular month. LittleBigPlanet launched on Novemeber 5th in the UK, so the title performed relatively well in its launch month, despite falling down the charts.

Not that many titles received the award this year, so it appears that LittleBigPlanet did get some recognition from the masses. Now, I can hear you whispering "only one-hundred-thousand"? Now listen. These are numbers for the UK, for one month, and the actual sales number will be between 100k and 200k.

After a little bit of research and some simple sums, we can estimate that if the title sold exactly one-hundred-thousand units in the UK, it would have sold over three-hundred-thousand units in all of Europe; since the UK accounts for approximately one third of the European video games market.

Add on US and Japan sales, and LittleBigPlanet isn't too far off the 1 million mark worldwide. So although the title is dramatically sliding down the charts, the stuffed Sackboy isn't doing as badly as we might have first thought. Especially considering that Sony has yet to implement its $1 million December advertising campaign for the game.

Other titles received the Silver award, including Fall Out 3, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. The Gold award (two-hundred-thousand units) went out to Fable II and Mass Effect. The Platinum award (three-hundred-thousands units) to Gears of War II and Call of Duty: World at War. Whereas, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii reached Diamond status by selling more than 1 million units in November.

The full list of winners can be found below. Confused or inspired by the chart? Don't hesitate to express yourself after the article.

[UPDATE] - It has been pointed out to me that although the UK represents around a third of Europe's video games market, it actually represents approximately 25% of the PlayStation market. That is, PlayStation games sell very strongly in Germany, France, Spain etc. This means that LittleBigPlanet should be above four-hundred-thousand units in Europe.



Patrick Steen

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Silver Status (100k)
(PSP) WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2008
(360) PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2009
(NDS) HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
(360) GEARS OF WAR 2
(360) FALLOUT 3
(NDS) BEN 10: PROTECTOR OF THE EARTH
(WII) TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 09
(PS2) RATATOUILLE
(PS3) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
(360) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
(NDS) PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE
(PC) WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE WRATH OF THE LICH KING
(PC) FOOTBALL MANAGER 2009
(PS3) LITTLEBIGPLANET
(PS3) STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED
(360) LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURES
(NDS) COOKING GUIDE: CAN'T DECID WHAT TO EAT?

Gold Status (200k)
(PS2) GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK
(360) GEARS OF WAR 2
(360) FABLE II
(360) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
(360) MASS EFFECT
(PS3) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
(NDS) TOUCHMASTER
(WII) SUPER MONKEY BALL: BANANA BLITZ

Platinum Status (300k)
(PS3) FIFA 09
(PC) THE SIMS 2: NIGHTLIFE
(360) GEARS OF WAR 2
(WII) SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL
(360) CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
(NDS) CARS

Double Platinum Status (600k)
(PS2)FIFA 08
(NDS)BIG BRAIN ACADEMY

Diamond Status (1.0m)
(WII) WII FIT
(WII) MARIO KART WII

Source: ESPLA Chart Track