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Unsurprising, Adele’s 25 album was the UK’s biggest entertainment product of 2015 with 2.6m sales, according to retail trade body ERA.
But it was very close between the smash hit album and the video game FIFA 16. FIFA 16 sold over 2.5m units, and was on sale for a much higher price. In terms of revenue, it would have comfortably been the No.1 selling entertainment product of the year.
Furthermore, these figures do not factor in digital sales for video games but does factor in digital sales for music. So in fact, FIFA 16 will have almost certainly sold more than Adele’s album in terms of units, too. We just don’t have the numbers to back that up.
There were five video games in the Top Ten list, alongside three movies and two albums. Call of Duty: Black Ops III made No.3 with 1.93m units sold, Fallout 4 reached No.5 with 1.1m games sold, Star Wars Battlefront sits at No.8 with just over 1m sales, while Grand Theft Auto V – a game that first launched over two years ago – sits at No.10.
All of those games, with the exception of GTA V, sold over 1m units last year, although GTA V would have almost certainly sold over a 1m, if digital sales were factored in.
However, the rest of the Top 20 features no video games whatsoever. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, The Witcher 3, Batman: Arkham Knight, Metal Gear Solid V and Minecraft failed to make the cut, highlighting a growing gap between the massive multi-million sellers, and the rest of the games business.
Here is the UK Entertainment Top Ten, courtesy of the Entertainment Retailer’s Assocation:
1. 25 (Adele) – 2,604,850
2. FIFA 16 – 2,516,079
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops III – 1,928,813
4. Paddington – 1,180,437
5. Fallout 4 – 1,126,929
6. Jurassic World – 1,052,790
7. The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies – 1,021,059
8. Star Wars Battlefront – 1,018,884
9. X (Ed Sheeran) – 1,001,845
10. Grand Theft Auto V – 998,726
