Metroid Dread wins over the rest of the saga, but not the rest of the top ten: here are the latest sales figures for physical video games
Welcome back to our usual start of the week special, where we analyze the sales data for i video games from the UK. As has been the case for a long time now, our weekly special uses British territory as a litmus test to analyze sales on European soil as a whole. However, as always, we specify that here we are talking about copies sold, yes, but “the old way”. The format to which we dedicate ourselves, in fact, is always and only that physicist, thanks to the numbers provided by GamesIndustry.biz and the census of the British body GfK. The latter releases the digital data only later.
Four rookies, and none at the top?
What we will see in this special on sales data, a bit more full-bodied thanks to the greater amount of information, sees the British public very much in the mood to spend on video games. We’ve got four new games in the UK’s top ten, but it’s a title we’ve already talked about at the top. It is about FIFA 22 of Electronic Arts, still clinging to the top spot for the second consecutive week. In terms of physical sales, the game fell by 58%, which for “the beautiful game” is really a negligible decline. In fact, FIFA 21 went worse, with a drop of 65% in the second week.
England, the only land in the ball more than us – Sales figures for video games
It should be noted that the sales figures for the video games of the FIFA saga are very accustomed to decreases from year to year. Sales of FIFA 22 physical are 32% lower than FIFA 21 in the same two-week period, but the game has given its best in digital. Therefore, overall, this year’s football title is beating its predecessor. The entity that collects data for digital sales is another (GSD) but, again, we won’t know more until late in the week. On the other hand, there is another title that is making fire and flames for the second place on the podium.
It says Yara, not “Cuba” – Sales figures for video games
The rival who came closest to FIFA 22 to claim its sales figures this week was Far Cry 6 from Ubisoft. We may have talked a little bit about it over the past few days, between a third-person guide and a PETA complaint (and when ever?). Sales in physical format are down by almost 70% compared to what happened in March 2018 with Far Cry 5. However, these numbers are due to the take-off of digital in recent years, as happened with FIFA. Sales are broken down as follows: 47% belongs to the PS5 format, 24% is for the PS4 version and, finally, 29% went to Xbox.
Spoiled Terror – Sales figures for video games
We can elaborate a little more on the sales figures of Metroid Dread, ranked third among the best-selling video games. For the United Kingdom, in fact, this is the chapter with the fastest sales (not the greatest, the fastest) of the entire franchise. Dread has even managed to eclipse the data from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on Wii. And that doesn’t even count digital sales! This is three and a half times the copies sold since the latest side-scrolling chapter, Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS, released in 2017 when Switch was already on sale (and developed by the same team).
The Galaxy is at Peace – Video Game Sales Figures
For Metroid as a whole, this is all great news. It’s not really one of the Big N’s major franchises, but (or maybe because of it) its fanbase is dedicated and can make itself heard. An applause, for these sales, should also be given to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, who in addition to always giving Samus something to do has also been able to promote the game properly. For Nintendo Switch, then, it is the fifth most successful launch of this 2021. To overshadow it we have only Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Monster Hunter Rise and, finally, New Pokémon Snap.
Wake up, Alan – Sales figures for video games
Another new face for the sales figures in this week of video games just ended was that of Alan Wake Remastered, which ranks fifth. The original title was an Xbox 360 exclusive, so the re-release marks the debut on the PlayStation console. Opening up to a new audience is always a good thing, and it is no coincidence that 63% of copies have been sold on PS5, with 21% following on PS4 and, ironically, only 17% on Xbox consoles. Developers and publishers were hoping for a new audience on Sony consoles: in our opinion, the bet was more than won.
Go bananas – Sales figures for video games
The other new release of the week is another welcome return, that is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. SEGA’s game finished in eighth place by selling more than double that of its predecessor, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD (October 2019). As this is a re-release of great classics loved on Nintendo GameCube, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to the console on which Banana Mania has sold the most. 70% of the copies sold are attributable to the Nintendo Switch version. Following it closely (or ball) we have 17% on PS5, 6% on Xbox and another 6% on PS4.
Ola for OLED – Sales figures for video games
It has nothing to do with the top ten, but we would like to focus on the sales for the Nintendo Switch OLED model. Its impact on sales for console games raised them all by 26% compared to the previous week (not last week, the first one; we’ll get there). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe by 15%, Minecraft by 5%, Animal Crossing: New Horizons by 4%, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury by 17%, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by 19%, Luigi’s Mansion 3 by 21%, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD by 16% and, finally, Super Mario Odyssey by 22%.
Deadly Loops For Hot Wheels – Sales Data For Video Games
As rear we have that of the cars of Hot Wheels Unleashed, who continues to get away with it but ends up from fourth to eleventh with a tumble of 50%. The hardest collapse, however, was that of Deathloop: the exclusive PS5 (also released on PC, where however the physical games sell little) has lost 58%. Although it is a relatively slight difference in terms of percentages, the crash was impetuous: the game, after losing the top ten in twelfth place, now finds itself almost out of the top 40. The expression “rear end “, In fact, it suits Deathloop better, now 40th. As always, it all depends on the availability of the hardware.
Concluding records
And once again we did it: we arrived unscathed at the table with which we can summarize another week of sales figures for video games in physical format. Let’s explain on the fly what we meant two paragraphs ago. This Monday we summarized what happened the previous week, so there is a difference between “last week” and “last episode”. The positions that you will find in the left column refer to the latter, while the week just ended outlines the positions from 1 to 10 shown in the center. Have a good consultation!
| Placements from two weeks ago | Top ten positions for the week just ended | Title concerned |
| 1 | 1 | FIFA 22 |
| New arrival | 2 | Far Cry 6 |
| New arrival | 3 | Metroid Dread |
| 2 | 4 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
| New arrival | 5 | Alan Wake Remastered |
| 5 | 6 | Minecraft (Nintendo Switch version) |
| 7 | 7 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
| New arrival | 8 | Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania |
| 10 | 9 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury |
| 9 | 10 | Grand Theft Auto V |
Now it’s up to you to tell us yours: what do you think of these results? Let us know below, and as always don’t forget to stay on TechGameWorld.com for all the most important news for gamers and more. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Instant Gaming.