Red Dead Redemption 2 releases and takes the top

The week one physical sales for Red Dead Redemption 2 are more than double those of the original game, which launched in 2010. Given that current GfK figures only account for physical sales it’s safe to assume that Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold far better than the original in both physical and digital markets, taking into account how the digital sales market has grown since 2010.

FIFA 19 is still the UK’s fastest selling game in 2018, even though Red Dead Redemption 2 did sell incredibly well. The game did manage to beat week one sales for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and has pushed it down into second place in the UK physical sales chart. 66 percent of week one sales for Red Dead Redemption 2 were on PlayStation 4, and the remainder for Xbox One.

Compared to Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar’s last release in the sister franchise to Red Dead Redemption, the game didn’t sell as well. However, Grand Theft Auto 5 launched on a Tuesday, while Red Dead Redemption 2 launched on a Friday. No one expected the latest game to outsell Grand Theft Auto 5 since it’s still, comparatively, fairly niche and young as a franchise.

Alongside Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the third fastest-selling non-FIFA game of this generation. Red Dead Redemption 2 is ahead of the fastest-selling non-Call of Duty game, Fallout 4, and last year’s Call of Duty entry, World War 2.

The launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 has provided a much needed boost to the UK retail market. Currently the market is down by 3.2 percent year-on-year, but year to date it’s up by 2.8 percent. The success of Red Dead Redemption 2’s launch bodes well for the future of the retail market, looking forward to the Holiday sales period with more big releases on the way such as Hitman 2, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Battlefield 5, Pokemon Let’s Go, and Fallout 76.

Other new releases this week were; Paw Patrol: On a Roll, which has entered the chart in 17th place, Nickelodeon Kart Racers, which has debuted in 21st place, My Hero’s One Justice, which entered in 23rd place, and Just Dance 2019 which is just behind in 24th place.

Forza Horizon 4 continues to sell well, moving up from 5th place to 4th in the chart this week thanks to an improvement in sales of 50 percent week-on-week. This is thought to have been caused by the sales of Xbox One bundles that packaged the game with a console and a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2.

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