Call of Duty has reclaimed its top spot as the biggest-selling title of the year.
The latest instalment in the blockbuster franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, sold 2.7 million copies last year according to data released today by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). In 2011 the series lost the number-one spot to Adele’s album 21 – which continued to sell strongly in 2012 and made 17th in this year’s chart.
The biggest-selling movie of 2012 was The Dark Knight Rises, while the top-selling album was Emeli Sande’s Our Version of Events. Video accounted for 23 titles in the Top 40, with music taking 10 and games seven.
However, overall sales of the top 40 entertainment titles were down 25% on the previous year, which ERA said was down to the relatively weak line-up launched in 2012. The association added that 19 titles sold more than one million units in 2011; last year only eight achieved this.
“2012 was a tough year for entertainment due to a number of factors, but this sharp 25% shrinkage in sales of the biggest titles suggests the quality of releases was at least partly to blame,” said ERA director general Kim Bayley. “Luckily 2013 has got off to a good start with Skyfall already selling more than two million copies – way ahead of last year’s biggest-selling video, The Dark Knight Rises.”
In January, ERA said a lack of major music, video and videogame releases last summer was a key reason for the 12% year-on-year decline in the value of the UK entertainment market to £4.21bn.
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