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Skipping the top spot for a minute, there was an incredibly close battle for second place this week between two key sports titles, both eager to make a mark before FIFA 18 launches next week. And it was NBA 2K18 that just edged out Pro Evolution Soccer 2018.
That’s impressive for the basketball title, No.2 is the highest launch chart position for a basketball game ever, and more importantly the biggest ever week one sales for such a title too – while commanding a healthy price per unit as well. That will be great news for 2K, whose release lineup is somewhat lean this year, with this and WWE 2K18 being it’s only big releases.
Sales for the basketball title were up by around seven per cent on last year, while the split between PS4 and Xbox One copies shifted further in favour of Sony at 67%. The title is notable in still providing Xbox 360 and PS3 version, though sales for these are now so small they barely register – they must surely fare better in other territories to justify their existence.
Konami’s Pro Evolution soccer held essentially steady year-on-year. It’s a solid performance but football is so popular in the UK, as FIFA 18 demonstrates, that you can’t help but feel that it should do better. Reviews say that the football on the pitch is sublime, but the game around the action needs work.
DESTINY’S SECOND
Destiny 2’s second week in the charts sees it slip back by a fairly typical 71 per cent in sales. That’s still a healthy chunk of copies moved, though, especially for a game which could have burned out far faster given its super-dedicated fanbase, and it bodes well for a steady sales run through to November’s big hitters – led of course by Activision’s own Call of Duty WWII.
With news of 1.2m concurrent Destiny players last week, and it notching up thebiggest ever sales day for the PlayStation Store, the game is looking to be a huge earner for Activision, with a large, and growing, player base.
There are two other new entries in the top this week. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider comes in at No.6, selling at around the 16 mark. It’s very hard to judge what would have constituted success for Bethesda’s ‘expandalone’ but with so many copies of the parent game sold, a few more sales would certainly have been welcome.
Just behind that, at No.8, was the 3DS remake of Metroid: Samus Returns, based loosely on the 1992 Game Boy Original. Though based on an retail price of around 40 it ranks at No.4 in the value chart for the week.
See you all next week to see whether FIFA 18 can make even more gigantic splash at retail than its predecessor.
Here’s the Top Ten in full:
1. Destiny 2 (Activision Blizzard)
2. NBA 2K18 (2K)
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (Konami)
4. Fallout 4 (Bethesda)
5. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Sony)
6. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (Bethesda)
7. Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two)
8. Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo)
9. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Activision Blizzard)
10. Forza Horizon 3 (Microsoft)
