EA Canada tops Develop 100

Develop magazine has released its annual Develop 100 list, which highlights the top game development companies based on UK sales figures, with EA Canada coming out on top, followed by Japanese companies Nintendo and Konami.

EA Canada, the company which worked on games including Need for Speed Carbon and the FIFA and NHL franchises, were number one for the third year in a row. The company's games alone netted £119 million (approx $235 million) in UK retail sales during 2006, with Canadian developers--which took seven of the 100 spots--reeling in £186 million ($368 million) altogether.

Twenty-eight UK-based studios made the list, including Traveller's Tales at five, Rockstar Leeds at six, EA UK-Criterion, London Studios, Relentless Studios, and Codemasters. A total of £232 million ($458 million) was generated by the UK companies.

The US grabbed the lion's share of the profits, with a total of 41 companies in the list, including Maxis at four, EA Redwood Shores at nine, Amaze Entertainment, Treyarch, Crystal Dynamics, and Epic Games. The US side pulled in £313 million ($618 million).

Popular Japanese companies including Yuke's at eight, Capcom, and Namco made up 16 of the places. Japanese companies in total made up £173 million ($342 million) in sales, with Nintendo responsible for £71 million ($140 million) of that amount.

Other European countries represented were France with Eden Studios and Ubisoft France, Sweden with Avalanche Studios and Digital Illusions, Denmark with IO Interactive, and Romania with Ubisoft Romania.

China and Australia also had one studio each in the list, with Australia's Krome Studios and China's Ubisoft Shanghai.