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Some Christmas traditions don’t last forever – and Skyrim has smashed the eight-year grip Electronic Arts and Activision has had on the Xmas No.1.
Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls game held the top spot after rocketing to the top of the charts last week, just 15,000 units ahead of Just Dance 3.
Activision’s Modern Warfare 3, which many expected to be this year’s No.1, actually falls to third, although sales are up two per cent.
Although there’s almost a full trading week until Christmas, GfK Chart-Track’s Christmas chart is always declared on the last working Monday before Christmas Day.
Bethesda’s hold at the top end a run of Xmas No.1s enjoyed by EA and Activision that started with Medal of Honor: Rising Sun in 2003. Activsion’s first Christmas No.1 came in 2007 with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. EA reclaimed the throne in 2008 with FIFA ’09, but Activision has held it for the past two years with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Sales of the game were actually down 8 per cent, but price cutting deals and increasing word of mouth still meant it was out selling challenger Just Dance – backed by a huge promotional campaign, and with sales up 11 per cent week on week.
It’s the highest Christmas Chart slot Ubi has acheived since the original Assassin’s Creed’s No.2 in 2007.
Here’s the UK All Formats Top Ten in full:
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
2. Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft)
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfae 3 (Activision)
4. FIFA 12 (EA)
5. Saints Row: The Third (THQ)
6. Battlefield 3 (EA)
7. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft)
8. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Sega)
9. Need for Speed: The Run (EA)
10. Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call (Nintendo)
