How PewDiePie fired Skate 3 back into the charts

If you follow the UK charts as closely as we do, you will have noticed that Skate 3 has been in the Top 40 all year.

This week the game sits at No.20.

The reason why this is worth noting is because Skate 3 is four years-old. There is no other game of that age in the Top 40. And yet over the course of the year, it has been a permanent fixture in Chart-Track’s weekly listings.

In fact, MCV can reveal that the Xbox 360 and PS3 game has sold 32.9 per cent more units for the first six months of this year compared with the first half of 2013.

The reason is an interesting one, and shows the real power of the YouTube phenomenon. If you head over to YouTube and put in ‘Skate 3’, you’ll find tonnes of comedy videos from prominent YouTubers playing Skate 3. And these videos have been watched by millions. The biggest of all being PewDiePie, one such Skate 3 video by him has been watched by an astonishing 12.37m people. And he has done several videos playing the game.

The result of this coverage has caused a spike in interest. The game was out of print, but the weight of consumer demand at retailer GAME meant the firm requested EA produce more copies. The result has been the title sitting in the charts all year.

So there you have it. A real, trackable, tangible example on the impact YouTubers are having on the games market. Do traditional reviews have the same level of influence?