Diablo takes July

Blizzard's popular role-playing game expansion Diablo II: Lord of Destruction came out on top in NPD Intelect's latest monthly and weekly lists of best-selling games. That the add-on emerged on top of the July sales chart should come as no surprise, as it has topped all but one of the weekly sales charts since its release in late June. The expansion regained the top spot on the weekly list as well, after being temporarily dethroned in last week's list by GodGames' gritty third-person shooter Max Payne. Max Payne, which was developed by 3D Realms and Remedy, has sold approximately 82,000 copies in its first four weeks of release, according to Take-Two Interactive.

Electronic Arts' incredibly popular virtual-life game The Sims continues to post strong sales long after its release in January 2000. The game took second place on both the July list and the latest weekly list. The Sims: House Party expansion pack took third place in the month of July, followed by Blizzard's role-playing game Diablo II in fourth place and Infogrames' theme park management game RollerCoaster Tycoon in fifth.

Third place on the latest weekly list went to Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2000, followed by Max Payne in fourth and The Sims: House Party in fifth. One unexpected entry on the weekly list was Sierra's King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, a 3D addition to the long-running King's Quest role-playing game series. Sales of the game, which was released in 1998, may have been boosted by its low average retail price of $18.

The lists below rank games according to retail sales. To see a list of games ranked according to GameSpot review score, visit our 6013054Top Games page .

Top-selling games for the month of July 2001:

Rank This Month / Rank Last Month / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / 1 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $35
2 / 2 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $42
3 / 3 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
4 / 8 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $38
5 / 7 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $27
6 / * / Flight Simulator 2000 / Microsoft / $30
7 / 6 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $29
8 / * / Max Payne / GodGames / $49
9 / 11 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $43
10 / 10 / Half-Life: Blue Shift / Vivendi Universal / $29
11 / 5 / Black & White / Electronic Arts / $42
12 / 9 / Train Simulator / Microsoft / $46
13 / 13 / Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal / Interplay / $30
14 / 18 / RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes / Infogrames / $28
15 / 4 / Myst III: Exile / Ubisoft / $42
16 / 12 / Sim Theme Park / Electronic Arts / $20
17 / 14 / Emperor: Battle for Dune / Electronic Arts / $42
18 / * / Anarchy Online / Funcom / $48
19 / * / Backyard Baseball 2001 / Infogrames / $20
20 / 16 / SimCity 3000 / Electronic Arts / $19

Top-selling games for the week of August 12-18:

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $36
2 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
3 / Flight Simulator 2000 / Microsoft / $29
4 / Max Payne / GodGames / $43
5 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
6 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $28
7 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $40
8 / Roller Coaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $28
9 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $44
10 / Kings Quest: Mask Of Eternity / Vivendi Universal / $18