The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) has announced new partnerships to work alongside its original arrangement with GfK Chart-Track that'll see the UK get sales figures from both retail and digital sources. This means that, from 2019 onwards, there will be UK charts that include sales from all major High Street retailers and supermarkets, as well as digital sales from a number of online retailers.
It's going to be tough getting digital information as accurate as the retail sales stats that we've long enjoyed, especially when you consider just how many different platforms there are, with Valve's Steam store the most obvious, along with re-sellers and competing platforms like Uplay and Origin to consider too. The digital intel will come via a new deal with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) and data services specialists B2Boost and will run alongside the existing relationship with GfK.
"This is an innovative and exciting direction for games data to take," ERA boss Kim Bayley said. "GfK has been the gold standard for physical games data and charts for more than two decades and we are delighted to confirm our relationship with them through to mid-2019. At the same time, we recognise that ISFE and B2Boost have captured digital data which our members are looking to analyse alongside the physical market. This twin track solution looks to be a win-win for all concerned."