Anthem debuts at No.1 in UK charts but note is a little flat

EA’s Anthem debuted at the top of the UK physical charts, to average sales for a game that anticipated. The fact that it’s a new IP makes it difficult to compare to previous BioWare titles but it’s worth mentioning that it sold 52 per cent less physical copies than Mass Effect Andromeda at launch.

Anthem received a lukewarm reception that could have influenced this result, but it’s worth keeping in mind that EA’s digital shift has been particularly strong so it’s likely Anthem did much better digitally. Its game-as-a-service nature also makes it more likely to be a digital buy anyway, especially since various trials and early access options were available digitally for the title prior to launch.

But for now Anthem feels a tiny bit underwhelming. Of course you have to keep things in perspective: the title still sold almost as much as what Far Cry New Dawn and Metro Exodus combined sold on their Week One. Anthem sold primarily on PS4, which 54 per cent of the copies shifted going to Sony’s console, against 40 per cent on Xbox One and six per cent on PC.

Meanwhile, last week’s No.1 Far Cry New Dawn had to settle for No.2 with a 43 per cent drop in sales week-on-week, while Metro Exodus fell to No.5 for its second week, with sales decreasing 55 per cent compared to last week. However, Metro Exodus was once again ahead of Far Cry New Dawn in terms of value and charted at No.2 in the revenue charts.

Having debuted at No.13 last week, Crackdown 3 fell all the way down to No.26 following a 51 per cent drop in sales.

There were no other new entries in the charts this week.

Here’s the Top Ten for the week ending February 23rd 2019 (data courtesy of GfK/Ukie):