The year-end NPD sales data revealed that EA's The Sims 3 was the top-selling PC game at retail in the U.S. last year. Today, EA sent word that the game was not only #1 in the U.S. but across the globe, based on data from NPD, Chart-Track, GfK and EA's own internal estimates. EA did not provide a units total, but the game quickly sold through 1.4 million units during its first week back in June 2009, which at the time made it the best-selling PC launch in the 27-year history of EA. The Sims 3 went on to sell 3.7 million units as of EA's fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2009. This is now the sixth time this decade that a Sims game was able to top the annual PC chart.
Interestingly, The Sims 3 was impacted by leaked code and piracy prior to launch, but EA CEO John Riccitiello told us last year that he sort of views the leak as a "demo program."
The Sims is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and The Sims 3 has put a particular emphasis on community. The game's official website has over 6 million unique monthly visitors, and over 100 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the The Sims 3 Exchange in just 7 months. Similar to Spore, the Create a World tool and the Exchange site enable players to share content, such as Sims, clothing, houses, objects and worlds.
Most recently, The Sims 3 also became the #1 selling iPhone game of 2009.
