UK Charts: FIFA takes No.1, but physical launch sales plummet

FIFA 19 is already the biggest UK video game of 2018, but its opening week physical sales have fallen sharply.

The game's week one sales are down 25% compared with FIFA 18's arrival one year ago.

Of course, these GfK figures only factor in physical games sold and does not include downloads. The numbers suggest that this year's FIFA either had a comparatively disappointing first week, or there has been a sharp acceleration in the movement from physical to digital. Or, perhaps more likely, a combination of both.

The PS4 version of FIFA 19 accounted for 64% of sales, with Xbox One accounting for 35% and the Switch version the remaining 1%. Sales of the games on legacy platforms (Xbox 360, PS3) were negligible.

The arrival of FIFA means that Spider-Man drops to No.2 for the week. Sony's game is now the second best-selling game of the year as it has overtaken Far Cry 5 in just four weeks. It's an impressive achievement for the PS4 title, as it is only available on one platform (admittedly, the UK's most popular console).

Also dropping a place due to FIFA is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which falls from No.2 to No.3. Despite a disappointing first week, the game has had solid sales since, and suggests that the Square Enix title will still find a decent audience.

Outside of the top titles, Sega's Valkyria Chronicles IV debuts at No.9, with the PS4 version accounting for most of the sales (54%), followed by Switch (39%) and then Xbox One (7%).

Meanwhile, the Switch release of Dragon Ball Fighterz sees that title return to the Top 40 at No.29. Hardware bundling of Project Cars and Tekken 7 means that both Bandai Namco games re-enter the charts at No.19 and No.20.

Here is the UKIE/GFK top ten for the week ending September 29th, 2018: