Far Cry 5 on top for the 3rd consecutive week

This week is the second week in a row that no new games have entered the top 10 UK game chart, leaving Far Cry 5 to hold onto first place thanks to no competition despite a 45 percent drop in sales week-on-week. However, according to the data any game that sold 3,500 copies over the week would have made it into the chart.

FIFA 18 has seen a much smaller drop in sales week-on-week, 7 percent, but is staying strong in second place in the chart. FIFA 18 has been out for almost a full year at this point, so for it to be placing so highly in the weekly sales chart is still impressive.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition has risen back to third place in the chart whilst simultaneously experiencing a 17 percent drop in sales. This more than anything else shows a spotlight on just how difficult the last week has been for the UK physical games market.

Fallout 4 saw an increase in sales week-on-week of 12 percent, the only game to see an increase in sales at all in the time period. This means that Fallout 4 has risen to seventh place in the chart from twelfth.

The UK physical games market is likely to see similar weeks up until September. This drought is caused by a lack of big games selling over the summer, with the exception of God of War which launched after this time period. It is also anticipated that Nintendo Labo will cause a surge in physical sales due to the high level of interest in the product, and the continued success of the Nintendo Switch.

Apart from the Nintendo Switch, which hadn’t launched this time last year, every console is showing a decrease in software sales year-on-year. The Playstation 4 is only down by 7.8 percent and may see a recovery with the launch of God of War, but it’s hard to tell since around this time last year Horizon: Zero Dawn was selling incredibly well.