Rockstar boosts UK Economy by £71m

Written by Geoff Richards

May 6, 2005 | 11:32

Tags: #boost #charttrack #developer #rockstar-north #top-10 #top-40

Companies: #rockstar #ubisoft-montreal

Local industry publication Develop has announced its first ever Top 100 chart that ranks individual game developers based on their retail success in 2004.

Mirroring the Top 40 Sales Charts, EA dominates the Develop 100, with no fewer that three studios in the Top 10, including EA Canada at Number One. However, the Brits do well at home with Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North (former DMA Design) coming in at Number Two with sales of over £71m. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's London Studios, perhaps most famous as the creators of The Getaway, rank number six and Codemasters, the long-standing Britsoft stalwarts, ranked nine.

Here is the Top 10 in full:

1. EA Canada (£93,513,089 generated at UK retail)
2. Rockstar North (£71,067,230)
3. Maxis (£31,907,533)
4. EA Redwood Shores (£30,600,306)
5. Ubisoft Montreal (£22,930,009)
6. London Studios (SCEE) (£22,914,433)
7. KCE Tokyo (£22,127,973)
8. Sonic Team (£20,762,935)
9. Codemasters (£19,153,610)
10. EA LA (£18,934,945)

Develop 100 ranks developers according to the revenues their products generated through UK retail - the figures are based on ChartTrack data, which covered roughly 85% of all UK retail sales through stores such as GAME, Virgin Megastores etc

While these figures are encouraging to see, it reveals the fact that the big keep getting bigger while smaller developers are reportedly struggling in an increasingly risk-adverse market of movie tie-ins and endless sequels. Indeed, London's own Elixir Studios (Republic: The Revolution; Evil Genius) recently announced they were closing their doors, though producing just two games in seven years is hardly the recipe for success.

Who is your favourite developer? Do you worship Rockstar for all things GTA, or perhaps Ubisoft Montreal and their Splinter Cell series? id Software vs Epic? Would anyone dare vote for 3D Realms? Join us in the forums for some lively debate.
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