StarCraft II outsells every console game in July @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on August 13, 2010

News: And the Xbox 360 continues to sell well.

The NPD Group has released their report on the bestselling games and consoles in July and the research firm has revealed that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a PC game, outsold every console game during the period. The monthly NPD numbers don't normally include PC titles, but StarCraft II's amazing sales showing necessitated an exception. The game sold 721,000 boxed copies in the US in July and, according to Blizzard, sold 1.5 million copies worldwide if you count retail sales and digital downloads. This performance would not only have landed StarCraft II comfortably in the number one spot, but ensured the game nearly outsold the next three bestselling games combined.

Moving on to actual console games, it was a bit of a slow month as NCAA Football 11 took the top two spots (Xbox 360: #1, PS3: #2). Crackdown 2, without a Halo beta invite this time, debuted strongly at #3 and Nintendo's Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was also popular with gamers in its first month, taking the #8 position.

The hardware list tells another interesting story. This month marks the first time the Xbox 360 has topped the list of bestselling consoles since September 2007 (when a little game called Halo 3 was released). The system's new "slim" refresh continues to sell well, mirroring Sony's success with a similar PS3 redesign last year.

Here's the full list of the ten bestselling games in the month and the console sales numbers:

Bestselling Games of June 2010
1. NCAA Football 11 (Xbox 360) - 368,000
2. NCAA Football 11 (PS3) - 298,800
3. Crackdown 2 (Xbox 360) - 208,800
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 193,000
5. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS) - 141,700
6. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)
7. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii)
8. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)
9. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)

Console Sales Numbers
1. Xbox 360 - 443,500
2. Nintendo DS - 398,400
3. Wii - 253,900
4. PlayStation 3 - 214,500
5. PSP - 84,000