FIFA 19 releases and takes the top

FIFA 19 has already become the biggest selling title of 2018 in the UK, but in terms of physical sales the game has underperformed compared to the launch of FIFA 18. Year-on-year FIFA 19’s week one sales are down by 25 percent on FIFA 18’s, demonstrating the increase in digital purchases during that period.

With digital sales excluded it appears as though FIFA 19 has seen a slump in sales, but it’s far more likely that those sales have simply transferred to digital platforms instead of falling that far. 64 percent of FIFA 19’s week on sales were for the PlayStation 4 version, 35 percent were for the Xbox One version, and 1 percent were for the Nintendo Switch version of the title. Even though the game released in the form of a Legacy Edition for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sales of this version didn’t even make up 1 percent.

Spider-Man was pushed down to second place in the chart by FIFA 19, but even so it’s become the second best-selling game of 2018. Spider-Man has overtaken the record previously held by Far Cry 5 in four weeks on sale, which is extremely impressive when you take into consideration the fact that Spider-Man is a PlayStation 4 exclusive. However, with the PlayStation 4 being the most popular console in the UK, it’s easy to see why Spider-Man has sold so well.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider also fell this week due to the release of FIFA 19, down to third place. While the game had poor launch sales it seems like the numbers are fairly consistent this week, meaning that over time the title will bring in a steady stream of revenue without the initial launch peak that most experience.

Valkyria Chronicles IV from Sega has debuted in the chart in ninth place, selling 54 percent of launch copies for the PlayStation 4, 39 percent for Nintendo Switch, and only 7 percent for Xbox One.

The Nintendo Switch saw a version of Dragon Ball FighterZ that entered the top 40 chart in 29th place. Bandai Namco have also seen a boost in the sales of Project Cars and Tekken 7, now in 19th and 20th respectively, thanks to a new hardware bundle release.

A more extended list of top sellers can be found here.