Electronic Arts has maintained its position as the number one publisher in the USA in July, holding on to 26 per cent market share as NCAA Football 2005 sold over half a million units on PS2 to become the top-selling game of the month. Combined with sales of the Xbox version on the game, which was at number five in the chart, the title sold well over three quarters of a million units, while similar sales figures were racked up by Sega"s rival ESPN NFL 2k5 title, which was co-published by Take 2.
Although the PS2 version of the game was comprehensively beaten by NCAA Football, coming in at number two in the chart, the Xbox version was well ahead of EA"s title, placing at number four with significantly more sales. However, Sega and Take 2 have taken the decision to launch the ESPN titles at a budget $20 price point - so while in unit terms, Sega may appear to be neck and neck with EA, in value terms, its title still lags far behind.