The results are out and Microsoft Corp comes in as the top selling publisher of business, reference and CD-ROM software. Last year’s sales figures are out from Reston, Virginia-based PC Data Inc and shocked nobody, with the world’s largest software company out there in front with over 21% of the year’s software dollars and 11% of total unit sales. And the year’s results established a few other companies as household names in the games, education and reference software world. There were few surprises left after Microsoft. Myst, the interactive graphics game from Broderbund Software Inc that has inspired graphical user interfaces across the board, held the number one place in the personal computer and Macintosh games stakes and was only pushed from the slot of best-selling CD-ROM for the whole year by Microsoft’s Windows95 upgrade disk. Doom’s sequel, Doom II, written by ID Software Inc and distributed by GT Interactive Inc took the number two games slot, followed by Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, LucasArt Inc’s Doom-alike, Dark Forces, and NASCAR Racing motor racing game from Sierra Online Inc.
By dollars % of total $ By Units % units 1 Microsoft 21.41% Microsoft 11.28% 2 Intuit 4.92% Softkey 7.33% 3 Broderbund 4.55% Intuit 4.86% 4 Softkey 4.18% Broderbund 4.28% 5 Symantec 3.71% Sierra On-Line 4.12% 6 Sierra On-Line 3.44% Expert Software 3.33% 7 Adobe 2.45% Electronic Arts 2.71% 8 Novell 2.36% GT Interactive 2.66% 9 LucasArts 1.95% LucasArts 2.35% 10 Electronic Arts 1.88% Davidson 2.16%
Climbing the ranks of the games charts were Activision Inc, Wizard Works Inc and Interplay Inc, whose Descent held the number one position in the middle of last year. Maxis Inc’s collection of SimCity spin-offs included SimCity 2000, SimTower and the education title, SimTown. Walt Disney Co and Mindscape Inc joined Broderbund in the personal computer and Macintosh Home Education ranks, where there were few surprises. Both of MECC Inc’s Oregon Trail and Oregon Trail II were in last year’s top 10. For the year, the best-selling CD-ROMs were the Windows95 Upgrade disk, Myst and Dark Forces joined by Broderbund’s Print Shop Deluxe and Intuit Inc’s personal financial organizer, Quicken Deluxe. As far as we know, there are no links between Microsoft and LucasArts or Sierra Online, but the company very nearly added Intuit to its roster until the US Justice Department got hot and heavy and intervened, and Broderbund shares shot up last December when it was announced that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen had paid $60m for 5% of the Novato-based firm.
