UK boxed games market suffers September sales slump

FIFA, Metal Gear Solid and Destiny were not enough to halt a decline in UK games retail.

2.67m boxed games were sold last month in the UK, a drop of 6.5 per cent over the same period a year before, according to GfK Chart-Track.

The biggest-selling game was FIFA 16 by a huge margin, with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in second place. In fact, nine of the Top Ten games were new to the charts last month. (The sales period ran from August 23rd to September 26th.)

EA was the biggest publisher due to the success of FIFA 16. That game accounted for almost a third of all the boxed titles sold last month. Meanwhile, Konami shot up to No.2 in the publisher rankings due primarily to the success of Metal Gear Solid V, but also thanks to the arrival of Pro Evolution Soccer 2015.

Of course, as always, this data does not factor in digital sales.

The September Top Ten:

1. FIFA 16, EA
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Konami
3. Destiny: The Taken King, Activision
4. Mad Max, Warner Bros
5. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Microsoft
6. Until Dawn, Sony
7. Forza Motorsport 6, Microsoft
8. Disney Infinity 3.0, Disney
9. Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar
10. Super Mario Maker, Nintendo