Skyrim breaks EA and Activisions 8 year strangle on Christmas No.1

Bethesda’s critically acclaimed title ‘The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’ (-8%) holds on to No1 and in doing so breaks EA & Activision’s 8 year stranglehold on the top of the Christmas Chart which started with EA’s ‘Medal of Honor: Rising Sun’ back in week 51 2003.

The last non-EA or Activision published title to be crowned Christmas No1 was Rockstar/Take 2’s ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ in week 51 2002. Christmas is still a week away, but the Christmas Chart has always been the last published chart before Christmas and this year the day itself falls on a Sunday. The still heavily price promoted Skyrim sells almost 15,000 units more than No2, however the gap between ‘Just Dance 3’ (+11%) at No2 and ‘Modern Warfare 3’ (+2%) at No3 is extremely close. It’s Ubisoft’s highest Christmas chart position since the original ‘Assassin’s Creed’ reached No2 back in week 51 2007.

EA have to settle for No4 as ‘FIFA 12’ (+13%) can’t match the Christmas chart performance of previous games in the series – No2 in 2010 and 2009 (behind COD) and No1 in 2008. It’s not just Bethesda who benefit from strong price promotions this week as reductions on ‘Saints Row: The Third’ (+85%) help push THQ up from No8 to No5. EA’s ‘Battlefield 3’ stays at No6 despite a strong jump of 55% in sales (boosted by price and new DLC). Ubisoft have 2 titles in the Christmas Top 10 with ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ (+21%) down 2 places to No7, however EA have 3 thanks to good performance from ‘Need for Speed: The Run’ (+51%), climbing 4 places from No13 to No9. Sega finish ahead of Nintendo as ‘Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games’ (+31%) moves up 3 places to No8 and ‘Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call’ (-8%) slips 3 places down from No7 to No10.

Here's the list in full:

1 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM


2 JUST DANCE 3


3 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3


4 FIFA 12


5 SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD


6 BATTLEFIELD 3


7 ASSASSIN’S CREED: REVELATIONS


8 MARIO & SONIC LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES


9 NEED FOR SPEED: THE RUN


10 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE SPECTRE’S CALL


11 BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY


12 MARIO KART 7


13 FORZA MOTORSPORT 4


14 UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION


15 SUPER MARIO 3D LAND


16 MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLING ZOO


17 ZUMBA FITNESS


18 LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 5-7


19 SONIC GENERATIONS


20 ABBA: YOU CAN DANCE

I saw this earlier and was pretty happy about COD losing out but Activision will be sore that they only got no. 3 behind a dance game lol

I wonder how the likes of Paddy Power are feeling now after they paid out early on MW3 being Christmas no 1

TBH I can't see betting on xmas games No1 will be a massive income stream to PP so I can't imagine they would have paid out much, plus it would have probably has stupidly low odds

Agreed:

CVG wrote:With almost immaculate timing the gamble-merchants Paddy Power have paid out to punters who'd put their money on the latest Call of Duty claiming the number one slot this yule-tide. Even though the big day is still a month and a half away...

"At odds of 1/16 this contest is well and truly over," explained Paddy Power's Ken Robertson. "On its day of release we are happy to crown Call of Duty: MW3 this year's undisputed champion."

Still, it makes them look like prats and is still a loss - I bet they won't make the same mistake again

Crap odds, put £16 on to get £1 back....then again the epic fail could benefit them in the future in the form of new members to their online betting thinking they may pay out earlier on other events too (like they have in the past)