indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In the German market, Red Alert 2 was expected to be a commercial success. PC Players Martin Schnelle predicted that it could be the best-selling game of the 2000 holiday season. It debuted at #1 on 's computer game sales rankings for October 2000, and held this spot the following month. The (VUD) presented Red Alert 2 with a "Gold" award at the end of November, indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. After taking fourth place in December, the game remained in Media Control's top 10 through February 2001, and in the top 14 through March. Red Alert 2 had sold roughly 180,000 units in the German region by May, a figure with which Electronic Arts was "very pleased", according to Udo Hoffman of PC Player. While Red Alert 2s sales in the German market were strong, the game was less successful than its predecessor Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. Discussing the performance of Red Alert 2 and its contemporary hits, Herman Achilles of the VUD described a "noticeable drop in sales, especially among mega sellers", which he attributed to growing piracy rates. Tom Meier of the German retailer PC Fun believed the game's lower demand was caused by players' "widespread disappointment" with Tiberian Sun. Hoffman wrote that Meier "had to open his shop half an hour earlier to cope with the crowds" for Tiberian Sun, while Red Alert 2 "was just a sale among many". The "Command & Conquer The Ultimate Collection" bundle has Red Alert 2 and is still available to play. Critical reviews Gary Whitta reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "much better than Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2 proves that Westwood can still cut it when it comes to realtime strategy – just don't expect a whole new ball game". Red Alert 2 received mostly positive reviews, with IGN calling it outstanding and GamePro's Editor's Choice. One reviewer on GamePro noted that "it's not the most innovative game, but with its solid gameplay and alternate Cold War storyline, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is the best 2D real-time strategy game since StarCraft". After the September 11 attacks, the game's cover art was redesigned to remove the depiction of a plane heading toward the World