NPD: U.S. PC Games Headed By WoW In June

The NPD Group has released the list of the best-selling retail PC games for June 2006 in North America, with World Of Warcraft blasting back into the top spot, and two new releases from Electronic Arts and THQ debuting within the top 5. Blizzard's popular MMO World of Warcraft climbed up from its previous number three spot to claim the top spot on the chart, followed by the retail SKU of the EA-published newcomer Half-Life 2: Episode 1 in the second position. EA's presence on the chart was felt elsewhere as well, as The Sims 2 ranked as the sixth most selling PC title for the month, while the title's Fun Stuff, Open For Business, and Nightlife expansions ranked third, fifth, and ninteenth respectively. In addition THQ's Cars Radiator Springs Adventures, appearing for the first time on the list in June, took the fourth position. Elsewhere in the chart, 2K Games' Bethesda-developed RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion fell three spots to seventh, while NCsoft's MMO expansion Guild Wars Factions took the biggest fall of those titles in the top ten, plummeting seven spots from last month's position on top of the chart to eighth. By comparison, Ubisoft and Nival Interactive's Heroes Of Might & Magic V was the big winner on the chart for June, climbing an impressive nine spots to take the number nine position on the chart, while Microsoft's venerable real-time strategy title Age Of Empires III rounded out the retail top ten. [NPD's monthly charts do not currently factor in online digital sales, though the company is reportedly moving toward this goal.]