GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

UK game charts: July 9-15

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories holds on to top spot for a fourth successive week, despite strong pressure from Prey.

46 Comments

The week of July 9 to 15 has been an interesting one for the UK games chart. With the end of the World Cup, football fever is on the wane and both 2006 FIFA World Cup and Pro Evolution Soccer 5 are slipping down the chart. There have also been three new entries, with 2K Games' Prey making the highest debut at number two.

However, all this movement has done little to disturb the number-one selling game in the UK. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories has dominated the charts for four weeks since its PlayStation 2 release last month.

The cinematic release of Pirates of the Caribbean movie helped the tie-in games do particularly well, with the handheld Dead Man's Chest titles sitting above The Legend of Jack Sparrow on the PlayStation 2 and PC. Another film-based title, Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, made a reappearance in the chart at number nine thanks to its Xbox 360 release. THQ's Cars did less well, entering the chart at number 16, but the release of the film in the UK on July 28 may help it reach the top 10 yet.

UK chart company Chart Track reports that Prey's high entry has mainly been due to the Xbox 360 release, which accounted for 77 percent of the game's sales. However, as a game that was originally conceived 10 years ago and one that has dipped in and out of development limbo ever since, Human Head Studios and 2K Games will be pleased to see the game's strong performance at retail. Chart-Track also reports that despite dropping 34 percent in sales over last week, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is still holding onto number one thanks to the budget-price PS2 release.

Eidos' titles Hitman: Blood Money and Tomb Raider: Legend both finally dropped out of the top 10 during the week of July 9 to 15, after a considerable showing in the last couple of months, but perhaps the most notable drop is Sega's Chromehounds, which took a huge fall from 10 last week to 29. There are no high profile games scheduled for release in the UK this Friday, so it's unlikely there will be too much change in the charts next week.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 46 comments about this story