US PC Charts March 22-29: The Lich King ascendant

Blizzard Entertainment might as well have titled the second World of Warcraft expansion "The Once and Future Lich King." After being briefly bumped off by Sega's Empire: Total War and THQ's Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, the add-on retook the number-one slot on the top 10 US best-seller list for the week of March 22-29 (aka GDC Week).

Though the list's organizers, the NPD Group, do not give out hard weekly sales numbers, the return means that Lich King--already the fastest-selling PC game of all time--will be continue to add greatly to Blizzard's near-$100 million of monthly revenue. That haul is also being boosted by sales of the still-popular combo pack World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (fourth) and the a la carte World of Warcraft (eighth).

Empire: Total War, the solidly received latest installment in Creative Assembly's historical real-time strategy series, had to make do with the week's second-place slot, just above The Sims 2: Double Deluxe. Electronic Arts' Sims series wasn't quite as omnipresent as usual, with only The Sims 2: Apartment Life expansion pack taking ninth place. EA also scored with Spore, which landed in sixth.

As for the rest of the chart, Activision's Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst discovered the secret of seventh place, with Ubisoft's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway taking 10th, apparently due to some severe discounting. Developed by Gearbox Software, the critically praised World War II shooter had an average US price of just $13 a pop, thanks to sluggish sales.

Week of March 22 - 29, 2009*
TITLE - PUBLISHER - AVERAGE PRICE
1) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Activision Blizzard - $33
2) Empire: Total War - Sega - $33
3) The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts - $20
4) World of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Activision Blizzard - $33
5) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - THQ - $47
6) Spore - Electronic Arts - $47
7) Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst - Activision Blizzard - $19
8) World of Warcraft - Activision Blizzard - $20
9) The Sims 2 Apartment Life - Electronic Arts - $20
10) Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - Ubisoft - $13

* 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.