UK Charts: EA swerves back into pole position

The latest UK sales figures reveal further changes in the chart position for EA and Ubisoft, as the coveted number one position is reclaimed by Need For Speed: Most Wanted.

Last week saw Peter Jackson's King Kong take the lead just days after Christmas, but the victory was short lived for Ubisoft as the movie tie-in drops back into second place in the all-formats chart. It's not all bad news for the French publisher though, as sales of Prince of Persia 3: The Two Thrones continue to climb dramatically, pushing the latest title up six places from ten to four.

The longstanding rivalry between EA's FIFA franchise and Konami's Pro Evolution series sees EA victorious again, holding onto third place for another week with FIFA '06, while Pro Evolution Soccer 5 remains in fifth position.

The majority of the position changes have been directly affected by some serious pre and post-Christmas retail incentives and publisher instigated price-cuts, following a disconcerting slump in consumer spending in the final quarter.

There are a few exceptions however, including Take-Two's PSP title, GTA: Liberty City Stories, which has enjoyed a six place climb to number six, and EA's The Sims 2, which jumped ten places to re-enter the top ten at number seven.

Activision clings to the higher end of the charts with multi-format Western adventure, Gun, climbing a single place from nine to eight, whilst EA's boy wizard drops three places from six to nine with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

As New Year sales combine with publisher-led price-cuts, the sales figures appear to be taking a positive upward turn. What remains to be seen over the coming weeks is just how severe an impact the slew of drastic price-cutting will have on the major publishers fiscal reports for the period.