FIFA 19 keeps the top

This week three huge games have released, starting Q4 off with a bang and some major shifting in the UK physical sales chart.

FIFA 19 still reigns supreme over all other titles, even though sales have dropped by 64 percent week-on-week for this, the second week the game has been on sale. Last year FIFA 18 saw a slightly larger drop in sales from week one to week two of 69 percent, showing the spread of physical purchases in 2018. While digital sales data isn’t included in this chart it’s likely that it’s selling even better on digital marketplaces, showing a stronger start for the EA’s football franchise this year.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was the biggest new release this week in terms of physical sales, landing in second place in the chart. However, launch sales are down on Assassin’s Creed Origins, last year’s entry to the series, by 26 percent. The difference has been caused by Odyssey launching a month earlier than Origins did last year, giving it a longer run up to Christmas which may improve Holiday Season sales. Last year 35 percent of sales of Assassin’s Creed Origins were digital, which may indicate that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is simply seeing more digital purchases than physical ones.

Forza Horizon 4 was the second new entry this week in third place in the chart. The game’s sales are up a little on the previous entry, Forza Horizon 3 released in 2016, which shows no drop in physical sales despite the rise of digital purchases. While the game is an Xbox One exclusive, it’s managed to creep up close of the numbers of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

Xbox UK Director Harvey Eagle told press that they were very pleased with the launch of Forza Horizon 4. He added that the game has become the fastest-selling in the series in the UK, according to GfK data. Forza Horizon 4 has also led to a boost in subscriptions to Xbox Games Pass, which allows subscribers to play Xbox exclusives from launch as part of the service. The promotion of a new hardware bundle also means that Forza Motorsport 5 has re-entered the chart in 12th place, indicating a large following for the franchise on Xbox One.

Spider-Man, a Playstation 4 exclusive, dropped to fourth place from second last week, and the final new entry for this week, Super Mario Party for Nintendo Switch, has debuted in fifth place in the chart.

Further down the chart in 21st place is the new title from Sega, First of the North Star: Lost Paradise, and in 22nd place a new PSVR title, Astro Bot Rescue Mission.

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