Just Cause 2 trumps original

In claiming number one in the ELSPA GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 this week, Just Cause 2 succeeds in justifying Square Enix’s loyalty to Avalanche’s high-octane free-roaming IP by achieving what the first game could not.

The original Just Cause, upon its release in September 2006, managed just second place in its first week in the charts.

Just Cause 2’s sales triumph is also a notable success for Square Enix, which can now lay claim to its second number one of the year following the top spot debut of Final Fantasy XIII earlier this month.

Square Enix also becomes only the third publisher to claim two number one games in 2010, joining EA (Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2) and Sony (Heavy Rain, God of War III).

Here’s a look at 2010’s number one games to date. In total we’ve had ten number ones in just 12 weeks from seven publishers:

Jan 9th – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision)
Jan 16th – Just Dance (Ubisoft)
Jan 23rd – Just Dance (Ubisoft)
Jan 30th – Mass Effect 2 (EA)
Feb 6th – Mass Effect 2 (EA)
Feb 13th – BioShock 2 (2K Games)
Feb 20th – Aliens vs Predator (Sega)
Feb 27th – Heavy Rain (Sony)
Mar 6th – Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA)
Mar 13th – Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix)
Mar 20th – God of War III (Sony)
March 27th – Just Cause 2 (Square Enix)