US PC Charts Apr. 12-18: Lich King fends off Demigod

The fact that the NPD Group only tracks retail sales is especially problematic for PC games, which are often sold in downloadable form. That situation is of particular note for the week of April 12-18, with Gas Powered Games' Demigod debuting at a respectable third on the NPD Group's weekly accounting of PC sales in the US. However, given that publisher Stardock heavily promoted the game through its own proprietary digital delivery platform, Impulse, it's difficult to say just how well the title sold.

Aside from Demigod cracking the top three with its debut, NPD's weekly PC chart looks awfully familiar. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King continued its dominance at the top of the charts, followed closely by fellow perennial chart topper The Sims 2 Double Deluxe. Having debuted in the third position last week, THQ's Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor slipped one slot to fourth, while Sega's Empire: Total War finished fifth.

Left 4 Dead, another problematic PC title given publisher Valve's popular Steam platform, placed sixth at retail this week. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest, which contains the original massively multiplayer online game and its 2007 expansion Burning Crusade, joined the World of Warcraft stand-alone edition at seventh and eighth. Two EA games, The Sims 2 Apartment Life and Spore, rounded out the week's chart at ninth and 10th, respectively.

Week of April 12-18, 2009*
TITLE - PUBLISHER - AVERAGE PRICE
1) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Activision Blizzard - $38
2) The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - EA - $20
3) Demigod - Stardock - $39
4) Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - THQ - $29
5) Empire: Total War - Sega - $50
6) Left 4 Dead - EA - $29
7) World of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Activision Blizzard - $38
8) World of Warcraft - Activision Blizzard - $20
9) The Sims 2 Apartment Life - EA - $19
10) Spore - EA - $50

* The above chart reflects the NPD Group's sales data drawn from a cross-sampling of retailers nationwide. Therefore, it does not include game sales through nontraditional channels such as digital distribution.