Just a few days ago, the latest installment of the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Legends: Arceus launched, being the first major release of 2022, and its UK weekly sales have been going through the roof.
Game Freak, who are the creators of the Pokemon gaming franchise are the ones behind the curtains of the Pokemon Legends: Arceus and they have dubbed it as the new “main series” Pokemon title with it taking a new take on the popular franchise.
It is worth noting that just a couple of months ago, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl had very successful releases, and considering the fact that the Pokemon Legends: Arceus was released during a quiet month, it was very difficult to predict how the latest installment would perform in terms of sales.
Fortunately, the game achieved excellent scores from critics which combined with the popularity of the franchise, led to the game selling out at numerous retailers.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus became the fourth best-selling Pokemon installment of all time in the UK, outselling both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl which launched last November.
Taking only single versions of the Pokemon games, the Pokemon Legends: Arceus officially became the best-selling title of the franchise, beating the previous champion, Pokemon Yellow, which was released in the year 2000.
While Pokemon Legends: Arceus represented almost 50% of the boxed video game sales last week, other new releases made an appearance on the chart as well, including the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for PS5 coming in at number five.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Extraction saw a decline in sales, dropping from the fourth spot down to number seventeen, however, it is worth noting that this only accounts for physical sales of the game, and more than 65% of the Rainbow Six: Extraction sales are digital downloads.
Lastly, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild rose to number six after seeing a 21% increase in week-on-week sales.
Top ten best-selling games in the UK for the week ending January 29, 2022:
Last Week | This Week | Title |
---|---|---|
New Entry | 1 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus |
1 | 2 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe |
2 | 3 | FIFA 22 |
3 | 4 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
New Entry | 5 | Uncharted: The Legacy of Thieves Collection |
9 | 6 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild |
6 | 7 | Minecraft (Switch) |
5 | 8 | Call of Duty: Vanguard |
8 | 9 | Grand Theft Auto 5 |
7 | 10 | Just Dance 2022 |