Games Tracker Hunts Down Source of Leaks

PS3 and Wii hardware sales data hit the Net and Chart Track isn't happy.

Research firm Chart Track is scurrying to find the source of a leak that sent out proprietary hardware sales data showing that the Wii had outsold the PlayStation 3 over the last week.

Wii beat PS3 last week, but you shouldn't know that

Each week Chart Track releases data on the best selling video game hardware and software. Ordinarily only the software rankings are released, with hard figures for both software and hardware available to subscribers, who have to agree not to pass on the information.

Earlier this week numbers landed online that showed the PlayStation 3 being outsold by the Wii by around 50 per cent. After selling 165,000 units at launch, ensuing weeks have seen weekly PS3 sales drop first to 34,000 and most recently 17,000 - as compared to the Wii's latest figure of 25,000.

Chart Track declined to comment on the veracity of the escaped data, which sources have confirmed is accurate, but the firm made clear it is keen to ensure this sort of thing doesn't happen again. The company is conducting an investigation to find out who is sharing its data.

"We've already contacted someone we believe is responsible for the leaks," Chart Track's Adam Davis told Kikizo.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo