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The latest Call of Duty doggedly refuses to abide by the established narrative of decline, with Black Ops III claiming this year’s Christmas No.1 title.
Black Ops III remains the sixth COD to claim the festive crown. The release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at cinemas was not enough to dethrone Activision’s title, with EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront sticking firm at No.2.
Black Ops III sales were up 33 per cent week-on-week, with Star Wars up 20 per cent and FIFA 24 per cent.
In fact, the Top Five is as was, with FIFA 16, the discounted Fallout 4 (sales of which soared 44 per cent) and Minecraft: Story Mode entrenched in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
WWE 2K16 slipped out of the Top Ten, however, making room for Sony’s Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (which is the highest charting platform exclusive), while sixth place Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate swaps position with Just Cause 3 at No.7.
It’s the first time since 2008 that Ubisoft hasn’t had a title in the Christmas Top Five.
Microsoft’s Xbox One trio of Halo 5: Guardians (13th), Forza 6 (14th) and Rise of the Tomb Raider (15th) are also all climbers, jumping one, five and one position respectively.
There are four Top 40 festive re-entries – Rare Replay (31st), Batman: Arkham Knight (35th), NBA 2K16 (39th) and The Sims 4 (40th).
LEGO Dimensions was the highest charting of the toys-to-life titles (17th), although it fell five places. Disney Infinity 3.0 (21st) is up two places with Skylanders Superchargers (22nd) down one.
Here’s the Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10:
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Activision)
2. Star Wars Battlefront (EA)
3. FIFA 16 (EA)
4. Fallout 4 (Bethesda)
5. Minecraft: Story Mode (Telltale)
6. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (Ubisoft)
7. Just Cause 3 (Square Enix)
8. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
9. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft)
10. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (Sony)
