Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 And Just Dance 3 Among The Best-Selling Games Of 2011

32 Comments

Posted January 12, 2012 - By Leah Jackson

Modern Warfare 3 Cover Art Revealed?

Surprise! Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game of 2011 according to the NPD Analysis. What is interesting however is the fact that Just Dance 3 claimed the number two spot, followed by a bunch of pretty hardcore titles. Sometimes people just need to dance. I get it.

NEWS: Video Game Sales Down 2% In 2011 According To NPD Analysis

I know all you want is to see the top ten list from 2011 and since I'm nice I'll show it to you. Here's the annual 2011 top 10 games from the NPD Group. Remember that these numbers represent physical retail only across all platforms, including PC.

1.) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC) Activision Blizzard
2.) Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) Ubisoft
3.) Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC) Bethesda Softworks
4.) Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts
5.) Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2) Electronic Arts
6.) Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
7.) Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC) Warner Bros. Interactive
8.) Gears of War 3 (360) Microsoft
9.) Just Dance 2 (Wii) Ubisoft
10.) Assassin's Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC) Ubisoft

Just by looking at this list it's interesting to note that two franchises scored with two titles each, Call of Duty and Just Dance, of course. The NPD had an interesting point when discussing this fact, saying that these two franchises, "couldn’t be more different," and that they demonstrate the range of appealing content on consoles for the year.

"The Dance genre was the sixth largest of 2011, growing 66% versus 2010," said NPD Group Analyst Anita Frazier. "The Just Dance property from Ubisoft nabbed two spots in the top 10 title list for annual 2011, among new physical sales of content at retail in the U.S.”

“In a bright spot for content sales, sales of games for HD platforms were up 8% in dollars in December, and 9% for the total year. Correspondingly, the PS3 and the Xbox 360 enjoyed the highest tie ratios for the year in terms of software units sold divided by the platform install base through the end of 2011," said the NPD Group.

I can't really say that I'm shocked at anything on this list. Every game that made the top 10 was exceptional and their sales prices clearly show that. Was your favorite game of 2011 in the top 10? My personal favorite, Alice: Madness Returns didn't make the list and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Tags: Nintendo 3DS, NPD Analysis, PlayStation 3, Videogames, Wii

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TheCloudXTidus

Yeah and alot of people were dissapointed.

Posted: January 16, 2012 5:49 PM
frankud124

Saint Row the Third is an awesome game and deserves more recognition!!

Posted: January 16, 2012 5:25 AM
darthnick426

who cares if it did? It's still the same thing the last 4 CoD's were, which is why I didn't buy it. I'll save my money for good games made by Bethesda, Bioware, Rocksteady, Valve, Rockstar, Ubisoft, and Bungie

Posted: January 15, 2012 11:25 PM
KTXtheGreat

MW3 may be number 1 in sales But Skyrim will be remembered as one of the best games ever. MW3 will fade away after the next installment next year with barely any changes and the same unbalance gameplay. It's true that COD has become the new Madden of this generation and as long as these sales continue you will see a this game over and over with little changes and overprice dlc that isn't worth $60 or more.

Posted: January 15, 2012 1:41 PM
Jizedi

So yeah, truly an epic game. Can't wait for mw4! It'll just turn out to be mw 3.5, but hey that doesn't seem to bother the company NOR the consumers! So uh, hurray!!

Posted: January 15, 2012 12:20 PM
Jizedi

I stole the game and got around halfway through, then got distracted by Skyrim and Saints Row 3 which were actually worth spending money on.

Posted: January 15, 2012 12:19 PM
kjsmith1980

I bought MW3 and it's o.k. but it sold because of the cod game's befor it. but i think in 2012 you will see a drop in sale's for cod just because it's getting old. give it a rest for like two year's.

Posted: January 15, 2012 10:10 AM
dukeletoatreides

Hooray for ElderScrolls Skyrim!

Posted: January 14, 2012 3:15 PM
dukeletoatreides

Hooray for ElderScrolls Skyrim!

Posted: January 14, 2012 2:54 PM
crocodilius

you know, i try to rationalize like this:
i dont see the logo for blizzard on any activision
game and vice-versa.
as long as this continues i try to remain blind to the
fact that merger probably ruined alot of good people.

oh ya, its also hilarious that 2 ubisoft dancing games
beat assassin's creed which people hype to no end.

we refer to this as a "gg newbs".

Posted: January 14, 2012 5:27 AM
ChiefN602

Call of duty has the it name, that means it can only go down from here on. Not hating, it's just how video game popularity works. Zelda couldn't even crack the top ten.

Posted: January 13, 2012 11:49 PM
DoonerBandit

One more thing it's interesting to note that Activision only has 2 entries in the top 10 and they're both from the same franchise.

Posted: January 13, 2012 11:16 PM
DoonerBandit

When will the people who run this industry realise the majority of CoD fans aren't really gamers in the traditional sense. What I mean by this is most people who play any of the CoD games don't play anything else. I'm not saying CoD sucks, I personally enjoyed the first game, i'm just saying publishers and developers need to take a deep breathe and stop trying to appeal to people who won't play their games. It's not because they will ignore them it's because many will never Know they exsit because they don't visit websites like G4, Kotaku and IGN. Now that being said even a fraction of MW3 players who are true gamers is still a market large enough to be in the top 10 so they shouldn't be totally ignored. Hell I wish I was more articulate but I think someone with an IQ higher than a house plant can understand what i'm getting at.

Posted: January 13, 2012 11:08 PM
GamingTruth

Anyone else surprised to see black ops on this list? The game came out in Nov. 2010, talk about a long life. lol

Posted: January 13, 2012 9:15 PM
theBEAST137

This just in: the Sun is going to rise tomorrow!

Posted: January 13, 2012 8:40 PM
lowkevmic

I doubt if anyone was surprised that MW3 would be the highest selling game of 2011. but I wasn't expecting Gears 3, let alone any exclusive title to make it to the list...

That says a lot about the Gears of War fanbase.

Posted: January 13, 2012 2:46 PM
permanent_nirvana

Not surprised about MW3. Pretty stellar list of games. With the exception of Just Dance 2 and 3 and Black Ops, I spent time with every single game on this list and enjoyed every minute of it. Especially Arkham City.

Posted: January 13, 2012 11:42 AM
RaverYusuke

No surprise MW3 was on top, seeing as how overrated it was. Skyrim being beaten out by a dance game comes to a surprise, while MvC3 gets no love.

Posted: January 13, 2012 11:06 AM
Laughter_

SWTOR wherefore art thou!

Posted: January 13, 2012 9:32 AM
channelcy

black ops was in the top ten list, SWTOR, Zelda, and Saints row 3 weren't

I don't want to live on this planet anymore

Posted: January 13, 2012 9:23 AM