UK Charts: PES launch sales drop 42% year-on-year

F1 2018 retains the No.1 spot in the UK physical charts, holding off PES 2019.

Konami's football title misses out on the top spot by 250 unit sales (physical data only). F1 2018 enjoyed a decent second week with a 49% drop in weekly sales (which is a pretty solid performance for a game in its second week). The F1 games tend to be impacted by the popularity of the real world sport, which can vary depending on how competitive the season is proving to be.

This year's PES actually charts a place higher compared with 2017, but its sales are more than 40% lower than its predecessor. The absence of the Champions League from this year's title may have had a negative impact on its performance, and the series has been in general decline now for the best part of a decade.

There's a number of new games in the charts this week. PS4 exclusive Yakuza Kiwami 2 debuts at No.5, just ahead of Mario Kart 8: Deluxe but a fair few units behind that constantly selling Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy at No.4.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch exclusive Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate comes in at No.9.

Another PS4 exclusive narrowly misses out on the Top Ten in the form of VR game Firewall Zero Hour. Increased retail activity around PlayStation VR bundles saw a jump in sales for PlayStation VR Worlds (up 11 places to No.13 with an 86% sales increase) and Resident Evil 7 (up 61% in sales, jumping from No.39 to No.29).

Also new this week is Strange Brigade from Rebellion (physical retail distribution handled by Sold Out). The game is a new IP from the same team behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army Trilogy. It hasn't charted especially well at retail (reaching No.16), although it may have fared better digitally.

Finally in terms of new games, the boxed version of Divinity: Original Sin II comes in at No.23.

Last week's No.2 game, Shenmue I and II, drops sharply to No.33 with an 83% drop in weekly sales.

Here is the UKIE/GFK top ten for the week ending September 1st, 2018: