Ukie and Ipsos Media launched today the world’s first official digital games chart using actual sales data from PC downloads and Expansion / DLC titles. The PC Download Chart uses data supplied directly by some of the leading players in the digital market including Disney, Electronic Arts, Mastertronic, NCSOFT, Sega, Square-Enix, Take 2, Ubisoft, Warner Bros, Born Ready Games and other top PC game publishers, developers and digital distributors.

The charts have been in Beta for the last 12 months while a secure live data portal and verification process was built and implemented by the data specialist, Ipsos Media CT.

The announcement of the charts comes with a call for the industry to support the project and help it realise its true value.

James Brooksby, CEO, Born Ready Games said:

“I think it is important for everyone to gather together and provide data in order for us all to be able to make better decisions when creating and publishing our games. We’re excited to be involved in the digital charts project and would encourage more companies of the scale of Born Ready Games and smaller to get involved.”

Simon Protheroe, Online Publishing Director, Square Enix Europe, added:

“For the first time we have solid data available from across the PC download market which will be an invaluable tool for anyone involved with planning, forecasting and analysis in an increasingly important sector of the market.”

Charts showing title ranking by units and revenue will, initially, be released monthly, then moving to weekly and will be available to everyone to publish and use alongside the existing Ukie game charts for boxed products. The charts will also include a combined boxed and digital chart for PC and separate charts for digital full and expansion titles.

Free access to the online data portal will be granted to any company supplying PC digital sales data to the project. The data they will access includes granular information by title, franchise, age rating, developer, units sold and revenue generated, amongst other market indicators.

The PC Download Chart will provide invaluable marketing and business planning insight for individual businesses and the wider interactive entertainment industry. Those supplying data, and therefore accessing key data on their own and competitor titles, will gain a significant competitive advantage.

Andy Payne CEO of Mastertronic also added:

“As an independent self publisher and developer who has been selling our games digitally for 9 years, we know that digital is key to our growth. For the very first time it is now possible for us to measure ourselves against the market and this is an amazing and vital step in our evolution as a games maker.”

I expect all games makers will want to input their data and get back more data entirely free. I am sure people don’t believe the easy mechanics and commercial model here. Put simply, if you put your data in, you get so much more back. I would urge everyone who sells games digitally to come an join this party, you get out so much more than you put in!”

Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie commented:

“As an industry, we need to measure the true size of the digital games market and that’s why we have invested in this system for the industry to own. Companies that are involved are already getting a competitive advantage, using the data to make informed and fact based commercial decisions.”

The purpose-built data portal and reporting system has been designed to deliver a secure, reliable and scalable solution with additional formats and territories to be incorporated in the coming months. Ipsos Media CT are managing the key processes of data collection, verification and processing.

Sarah Rogers, Sales & Marketing Manager at NCSOFT concluded:

“The project, which is the first of its kind, represents a major coup for Ukie and UK games industry and demonstrates the immense mutual benefit received when we provide data collectively. The information available to contributors will be invaluable for informing business decisions within this digital age. This is definitely a big day for the industry and a great example of what a united industry can achieve.”