Update: According to Big Download and Blue's News, Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders were listed as Steam's second top-grossing game for the week of 11/8 - 11/14, though it seems that listing disappeared after the game launched on November 17.

Original: The week before Left 4 Dead 2's release curiously saw Valve's zombie shooter get left behind by digital customers, as online pre-orders for the sequel slipped from the number three spot on Steam's top ten to, well, a position not listed on the chart.

Unsurprisingly, sales juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 topped Steam's charts, with Direct2Drive, which refuses to sell MW2, seeing Dragon Age reign again.

Steam Top Ten (by Revenue): 11/8 - 11/14

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward
2. Dragon Age: Origins - BioWare
3. Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare... Read more

Last week was a big one for PC RPGs, as BioWare's long-awaited Dragon Age: Origins dominated the sales charts of digital distribution outlets Steam and Direct2Drive, joined by Gearbox's shooter-RPG Borderlands and Runic's Diablo-esque Torchlight.

Also of note is the fact that the Steam charts include three titles not sold by Direct2Drive: Left 4 Dead 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Shattered Horizon.

Steam Top Ten (by Revenue): 11/1 - 11/7

1. Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare
2. Dragon Age: Origins - BioWare
3. Left 4 Dead 2 (pre-order) - Valve... Read more

Major digital distributors Direct2Drive, GamersGate and Impulse have refused to stock Infinity Ward's highly anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC due to its reliance upon Valve Software's rival distribution platform Steam, Voodoo Extreme reports.

"We believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased," D2D explains in a statement masquerading as a listing for Modern Warfare 2 in its store. A representative later told Kotaku "We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."

Modern Warfare 2 on PC will use Steam and Valve's Steamworks framework for DRM purposes as well auto-update, achievement and anti-cheat features, among others.

However, both Direct2Drive and GamersGate sell ACE Team's Zeno Clash--which requires Steam. D2D also offers several other Steam-based titles... Read more

The PC digital sales reign of Aion has drawn to a close. The top spot on Steam last week was claimed by the newly-opened Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders--no surprise considering its pre-order numbers are running at 300% of the original's--while Direct2Drive saw the coronation of Gothic developer Piranha Bytes' new RPG Risen.

Post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth has already dropped from Steam's charts, though it's holding steady at D2D--resisting the advances of the ongoing fifth anniversary $5 sale.

Of course, it's important to note Aion has standard and collector's editions high in both charts, though it's impossible to judge whether combined they would claim the top spot.

Steam Top Ten (9/27 - 10/3) by revenue

1. Left 4 Dead 2 (pre-order) / Valve
2. Left 4 Dead / Valve
3. Aion Collector's Edition / NCSoft... Read more

The final week of digital distributor Direct2Drive's five dollar extravaganza brings a cadre of war games down to the low price point. There's a lot of gold to be had in this installment, with Company of Heroes Gold, Supreme Commander Gold and World in Conflict Gold all getting the $5 sticker price through October 11.

For a full list of the discounted games, click through:... Read more

NCsoft's fantasy MMO Aion once again dominated the digital PC sales arena last week. The title took the top two slots on both the Steam and Direct2Drive charts with its collector's edition and standard download, respectively. The plucky post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth also seems to be doing well, capturing the third slot on both lists. Beyond the massively multiplayer stuff, Direct2Drive's five dollar sales are clearly pushing numbers, and Steam is still selling Counter-Strike.

Steam Top Ten (9/20 - 9/26):

1. Aion Collector's Edition
2. Aion
3. Fallen Earth... Read more

The fourth week of Direct2Drive's big five dollar sale sees a number of indie games brought down from their already-cheapened price points. 2D Boy's World of Goo is there of course, but so is Hidden Path's tower defense game Defense Grid: The Awakening and Chronic's platformer Gish. Paradox's Mount and Blade and Tale of Tales' The Path also made the list.

The full cadre follows:

• Mount and Blade
• World of Goo
• Defense Grid: The Awakening... Read more

NCsoft's latest MMO Aion topped both the Steam and Direct2Drive sales charts leading up to the game's North American launch today. Cryptic's own massive multiplayer title Champions Online continued to rack up sales following its recent September 1 opening, while Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylum did well in its debut week on PC.

Steam Top Sellers (9/13 - 9/19):

1. Aion Collector's Edition (Pre-Sale)
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Star Wars Jedi Knight Collection
5. Garry's Mod... Read more

The big five dollar sale going on at Direct2Drive has entered its third week, bringing a fresh helping of discounted RPGs, MMOs and Assassin's Creeds.

The newly marked-down games follow:

• Neverwinter Nights 2
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
• Assassin's Creed Director's Cut
• Elven Legacy
• EVE Online... Read more

As promised, LucasArts today re-released the entirety of its Star Wars-based shooting and saber-swinging Jedi Knight series through digital distribution outlet Steam.

The five games are available in the $19.99 Jedi Knight Collection, or individually:

• Star Wars: Dark Forces - $4.99
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II - $4.99
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith - $2.99... Read more

The digital re-release of BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was obviously quite popular, just not quite enough to topple the resident MMO powerhouses.

Meanwhile, Street Fighter IV, Braid and the vanilla version of Civilization 4 all rose back up in the download charts thanks to temporary discounts. It'll be interesting to see how D2D's continuing 5-week 50 games for $5 sale will affect the charts moving forward.

Steam's Top Ten (by Revenue) (9/6 - 9/12)

1. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCsoft
2. Champions Online / Cryptic
3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic / BioWare... Read more

LucasArts' catalog of Dark Forces/Jedi Knight action titles will be available to buy on Steam and Direct2Drive starting this Wednesday, the company has confirmed.

The lineup will include all of the titles associated with the franchise, including the Jedi Knight expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith and the original Dark Forces. No word on pricing yet--check back on Wednesday for the full rundown.

Digital distributor Direct2Drive's anniversary sale is moving on to its second week, bringing a new slate of action titles marked down to $5 apiece. In addition to the freshly cut games, many of the titles discounted last week are still available at the $5 price.

The additions include the following:

• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
• BioShock
• Sid Meier's Pirates!
• Saints Row 2... Read more

To mark its 5th anniversary, digital distributor Direct2Drive is offering 50 games for only $5 apiece over the next five weeks. The first batch shows that these won't be 50 bargain titles, either: Civilization 4, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, X-Com Complete Bundle and Dawn of War GOTY are just a few of the games that can be had for a Lincoln.

The second stage will be devoted to action games, with RPG/MMOs, indie games, and war games making up the following weekly themes.

Upcoming MMOs topped the PC sales charts this week, indicating strong interest in both Champions Online and Aion. Meanwhile, TimeGate's just-released shooter Section 8 charted on both Direct2Drive and Steam, while the PC version of Street Fighter IV continues to do well.

Steam Top Ten: 8/30 - 9/5

1. Champions Online
2. Aion Collector's Edition (Pre-Order)
3. Street Fighter IV... Read more

To celebrate the $10 digital PC release of its Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare is offering a coupon for a 25% discount at Direct2Drive to all who register for its Old Republic community website before September 15.

The critically-acclaimed RPG serves as a bargain entry point to Star Wars' Old Republic period, which takes place thousands of years before the movies and will play host to BioWare's upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG.

Knights of the Old Republic also hit Steam, though no discount is on offer there.

If this week's breakdown of the best-selling titles from digital distribution outlets Steam and Direct2Drive looks a bit familiar, that's probably because you saw last week's list.

Sure, there are some subtle differences--the THQ Collector Pack and Call of Duty 4 weren't on last week's Steam list, CoD: World at War and The Witcher are new to this week's Direct2Drive chart--but mostly, it's the same stuff in a slightly different order.

That said, things are bound to change soon. With Champions Online launching in North America and Europe this week, pre-orders for the MMO probably won't top Direct2Drive's chart much longer, and with Aion and Fallen Earth also launching here in the next few weeks, it'll be interesting to see how September's MMO trio performs post-release.

Steam's Top Ten (by Revenue) (8/23 - 8/29)

1. Left 4 Dead / Valve
2. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCsoft... Read more

September's forthcoming assault of massively multiplayer games continues to dominate the sales charts, as pre-orders for Aion appear on both Steam and Direct2Drive's listings, with Direct2Drive also seeing Champions Online and Fallen Earth rank highly. The respective figures for each digital distribution outlet follow below:

Steam's Top Ten (by Revenue) (8/16 - 8/22)

1. Left 4 Dead / Valve
2. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCsoft
3. Counter-Strike: Source / Valve ... Read more

Deals and discounts were the shining stars of the past week, as close to half of the top-selling games for both Steam and Direct2Drive were either bundled with temporary savings--D2D had Fallout 3 at half-price over the weekend, for example--or a pre-order incentive, such as beta access (Aion, Champions) or free games (Red Faction).

A rundown of the top games from each digital distribution outlet is below, but first, a quick note. Originally, Steam's "absolute, autonomous, freewheeling, grassroots, nonaligned, nonpartisan, sovereign, unconstrained, uncontrolled, unregimented games pack" (a.k.a. the Indie Game Bundle) topped the Steam chart, but the list was updated after the sale ended and that entry removed. With that out of the way, on to the charts!

Steam's Top Ten (by Revenue) (8/2 - 8/8)

1. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II / Relic Entertainment
2. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCsoft... Read more

Direct2Drive's $17.75 'Best of Indie' Bundle Volume 1 offer presents an opportunity to cast aside the myths of 'indie gaming' and discover it's not a byword for 8-bit music, Nu-Skool Journalism and bad graphics--sometimes it's just plain great video games.

Bringing savings of $60, the pack contains the excellent surreal first-person puncher Zeno Clash, polished tower defense Defense Grid, steam-powered puzzler Cogs, government sim Democracy 2, and polarising dream-like exploration game The Path.

The offer will end on Sunday August 9 so best get your black turtle neck on sharpish.