FIFA 18 is back to the top with upcoming World Cup

EA Sport’s football simulation FIFA 18 produced a comeback worthy of any soccer giant when it reclaimed top spot in the weekly GfK/Ukie sales charts over six months after its initial release.

EA’s marketing department appear to deserve much of the credit. Alluring price promotions and the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which kicks off in Russia on June the 14th, have provided a timely boost to the game’s sales. The fact that EA have made new World Cup themed content available for the game appears to have also helped re-establish it as “relevant” in the market.

FIFA 18’s momentum has been growing for the past few weeks, with week-on-week jumps in sales of 89%, 59% and 21% sending it on an upward trajectory that has culminated in the coveted number one spot.

Detroit: Become Human claimed number two spot in the charts and continues to sell well following its May 24th release. The game, which has been praised for taking storytelling to new depths by allowing players to continually make choices that open or close narratives, is the biggest selling “new” game in the weekly charts.

Far Cry 5 and God of War fought a heavyweight, AAA battle for third and fourth place. Ubisoft’s first-person shooter claimed third by a narrow margin, perhaps aided by its availability on several platforms; God of War is a PS4 exclusive.

A pair of re-releases claimed fifth and sixth place in the weekly chart. Sega Mega Drive Classics, a collection of over 50 Mega Drive games, claimed fourth ahead of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary.

Aside from this, the only other new entries in the chart were Tennis World Tour at number 31 and Agony at number 32.

More significant news from outside the top ten is the fact that Grand Theft Auto V remains “locked out.” For the second week in a row, Rockstar Games multi-record breaking game could only chart in 13th position. After the best part of five years in the top ten of virtually every sales chart going it appears that GTAV is finally in decline.

If only Rockstar had a game lined up to pick up the slack this autumn. The countdown to Red Dead Redemption 2 begins now…