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This week’s charts saw the Spyro Reignitied Trilogy debuting at No.1, a first for the franchise since the release of the original PlayStation game back in 1998, but the purple dragon was actually not the best selling title as Pokémon Let’s Go technically sold more units. However, GfK treats Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee as two separate entries in the charts.
Let’s Go Pikachu debuted at No.4 and Let’s Go Eevee debuted at No.6 and, combined, they sold 7.8 per cent more copies that Spyro. Week one sales for these new Switch entries were down 60 per cent compared to launch sales for Pokémon Sun and Moon though the comparison is not a fair one: the 3DS install base is more than three times the one of the Switch, plus Sun and Moon released on the back of the Pokémon Go craze in 2016. We should also mention that Nintendo had stock issues once again with Pokémon Let’s Go, especially the versions bundled with the Pokéball Plus, which could in part explain these sales figures.
Switch sales were on the rise this week, likely boosted by bundles and the release of Pokémon. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sales were up 94 per cent week-on-week, Super Mario Party increased 25 per cent and Super Mario Odyssey had a 30 per cent boost. The most impressive one was Just Dance 2019 though, which gained 25 spots to No.14, with sales up 465 per cent. Sales for the Switch version alone increased 916 per cent week-on-week, as the title was bundled with Pokémon Let’s Go.
Meanwhile, Fallout 76 debuted at No.3 with launch sales down 82 per cent compared to 2015’s Fallout 4. However, being an online multiplayer game only, Fallout 76’s digital sales are likely to be much higher than they were for Fallout 4.
Fortnite’s Deep Freeze Bundle entered the charts at No.8, while Hitman 2 made it to No.10 to quite underwhelming sales.
GfK mentioned that early Black Friday sales boosted a few titles, namely FIFA 19, the sales of which were up 62 per cent week-on-week, and WWE 2K19 (+202 per cent week-on-week).
Overall, the market was on the rise last week due to the wealth of new releases, bundles and promotions. Unit sales were up 99 per cent week-on-week and value increased 100 per cent week-on-week.
Here’s the Top Ten for the week ending November 17th (data courtesy of GfK/Ukie):
