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Destiny claims biggest launch ever for new IP in UK history
Destiny sold more at launch in the UK than any other new intellectual property in gaming history, following Activision's claim it shipped $500 million worldwide last week. Bungie's shooter is the second game to break the new-IP record this year, the first being Watch Dogs in May. The most successful UK launch of any game ever still belongs to Grand Theft Auto 5, but Destiny now boasts the biggest launch of 2014. Not that any of that's surprising, frankly, and we're still waiting on hard sales figures from Activision. It's maybe more revealing to dissect Destiny's UK sales-by-platform percentages, especially since they offer a 50-50 cross-generation split between PlayStation and Xbox. While PS4 leads the way with 46 percent, Xbox One and Xbox 360 come in second and third with 36 and 14 percent respectively, and PS3 makes up the remaining 4 percent.
PlayStation 4 surpasses 1 million sales in the UK
The PlayStation 4 is the first current-gen console to hit one million sales in the UK, making it the second-fastest of all to reach seven figures in the country's history. The Sony system took 42 weeks to pass the million barrier, four weeks less than the PS3 and eight less than the PS2. However, the crown for fastest seller remains atop the Nintendo Wii, which shifted a million to UK customers in just 38 weeks. Sony Europe's Chris Owen confirmed the figure as "sell-through," meaning it represents sales to customers rather than retailers. Sony UK boss Fergal Gera explained to Eurogamer the figures come from data compiler Chart Track.
The Sims move in to No. 1 in this week's UK charts
As Jess explains to Alexander in the Joystiq house, it's absotively positutely no surprise the new UK No.1 is The Sims 4. With Destiny not yet on shelves, EA's The Real World simulator has no other major new releases to oppose it, and even if it did, we're talking about a series that's sold over 175 million units to date. What'll be more interesting is seeing how long it can stick in the top ten, and how much it can match the longevity of previous entries. Chart Track notes price promos helped Watch Dogs boost back up to second, but maybe the most telling story lies outside the top ten. The first Danganronpa debuted at just 42nd back in February, as you might expect for a niche Vita game. Half a year on and its sequel, Goodbye Despair, breaks into the top 40 at 29th, which superficially looks like decent improvement. As ever, you'll find the full top ten (as well as this week's music video) below the break.
UK takes Metro Redux to the top of the charts
Metro Redux - we can't believe they didn't go with Metro Revival - is the new UK No. 1 this week, overthrowing Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition after one week of glory. Meanwhile, Madden NFL 15 debuts 6th, which isn't bad given which version of football it is. The PS4, Xbox One and PC bundle of Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light is Deep Silver's first No. 1 of the year, but it's far from the first remaster to lead the way in 2014. Upgraded and enhanced versions of Tomb Raider, Diablo 3 and The Last of Us had already scored five chart-topping weeks between them before Metro Redux came along, and we could see a few other remasters at the top before the year's close. In honor of the remasters, we're going to re-release our idea of music videos below the break for these posts. This week and with Metro in mind, we'll keep it Russian with 2000s duo t.A.T.u, who infamously caused great controversy with their awful capitalization.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition trailblazes the UK charts
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition is the new UK No.1, displacing The Last of Us: Remastered after three weeks running at the top. Data compilers Chart Track offer a few interesting infobits on the new chart leader, including that the top platform for sales was PS4 with 47 percent of the share. The PS4 version sold more than last year's original Xbox 360 release, but only around 500 units more. Xbox One took 32 percent of the share, Xbox 360 13 percent this time around, and PS3 8 percent. Also rising out of the undergrowth into this week's top ten is Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, thanks to the brand new PS4 and PS3 versions. It takes third place behind The Last of Us: Remastered, while JRPG Tales of Xillia 2 debuts in an impressive tenth place. Finally, and quite incredibly, FIFA 14 is out of the UK top ten for the first time since its release. If only EA had another upcoming edition of its soccer sim to replace it...
The Last of Us still the remaster of the UK house
Apparently not contented by its six-week run as the UK No. 1 last year, The Last of Us is now halfway to repeating that success in its PS4 guise. Again, in terms of new releases there's little opposition to really strain The Last of Us: Remastered, but three weeks on the trot isn't to be sneezed at, particularly with all those spores about Despite the quiet state of the summer, fantasy action-RPG Risen 3 failed to break the top 40 in its debut week. As such, this week's UK top ten is a very familiar read for regular purveyors of the charts, with Lego, FIFA, Minecraft, Call of Duty, GTA and Battlefield all in the mix. That said, we may see a new No. 1 next week if Diablo 3 catches hellfire on PS4 and Xbox One in the new Ultimate Evil Edition.
Fun guys still eating up The Last of Us: Remastered in the UK
The Last of Us: Remastered is the champignon of the UK for a second week, with the PS4 version looking to emulate the original's six-week chart-topping run. It says something about the popularity of Naughty Dog's fungal horror - and of games retail's quiet summer - that The Last of Us on PS3 is back in the charts in 24th place. The only new release in the top 40 is not really that new of a release, considering it's been out for a while as a downloadable update. We're of course talking about the retail version of Ultra Street Fighter 4, which fell short of a top ten berth by punching in at 15th. As ever, you'll find the full top ten below the break.
The Last of Us: Remastered spores big on UK charts
The Last of Us: Remastered, the PS4 re-release of Joystiq's Game of the Year 2013, did exceptionally well in its debut week on the UK charts. Not only was the tale of what happens when athlete's foot goes unchecked the top selling game of the week, but it was also the fifth biggest launch of the year and fourth largest for the PS4 ever, according to Chart-Track. Chart-Track also notes now that school break is in full swing, game sales are up across the board. The top ten remains relatively unchanged, but the Lego Movie Videogame and Minecraft for Xbox 360 and PS3 both saw double-digit sales increases. The top ten can be found after the break.
Watch Dogs is still the UK charts' best friend
Watch Dogs continues to rise above the summer drought, notching its sixth week in total as the British No. 1. Again, there's not one new release in the UK top 40, so it's not shocking to see the country's games market drop another three percent in revenue this week. The Last of Us: Remastered should reinvigorate the market, but until then we're staving off the tumbleweeds with more music below the break. This week, we're honoring Watch Dogs' achievement with a 1969 rock track that featured memorably in British gangster film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Woof!
UK charts: Watch Dogs stands guard, market melts in heat
Watch Dogs notched its fifth UK number one this week, the most for any game in 2014, and that's all well and good. Frankly, the entire country is just too exhausted from the relentless summer heat to notice. Brits are so used to rain, clouds, rain and more rain, so prolonged heatwaves like this one tend to take their toll. Maybe the heat's even affected games retail in the country, with nationwide sales enduring a 14 percent drop in revenue from the week before as the heat ramped up. Then again, it really doesn't help when you're having a summer drought of new releases. Since the UK charts refuse to play - it's another week of tiny changes - we're continuing our run of music below the break. In the words of Avicii, wake us up when it's all over.
Watch Dogs bites back at Sniper Elite 3 in this week's UK charts
Watch Dogs wins the latest round of musical chairs in this week's UK charts, ending Sniper Elite 3's two-week tenure at No. 1. The open-world gruff man sim makes it four weeks in total at the top, and Ubisoft says it's shipped 8 million copies since the game's May launch. With not one new release in the top 40, there's barely any significant change in this week's top 10 outside of Tomodachi Life and Battlefield 4 sneaking back in. Since it's so quiet, we're continuing where we left off in the last charts round-up and posting some super-awesome music below the break, in the spirit of kicking the week off the right way. This week, we're commemorating Germany's triumph in the World Cup Final with the country's brightest young pop sensation.
Sniper Elite 3 camps at the top of the UK charts
Sniper Elite 3 leads the UK charts for a second week, as Brits continue to enjoy shattering various body parts in slow-mo. Maybe it's a form of relief following England's dismal World Cup and Andy Murray's struggles at Wimbledon. In fairness, there are few things that ease the pain like sending a virtual bullet through some virtual fool's virtual gut. As you might have guessed, it's another quiet week for the UK charts with no real new releases to talk about. Instead of worrying about that, you can head below the break for the full top 10 and a window into happier times for English football.
Sniper Elite 3 zooms up UK charts
EA Sports' UFC managed one week as the British king of the ring, but it failed to spot Sniper Elite 3 lurking in the audience. Rebellion's shooter displaced the fighter this week, marking the series' second time on top of the UK charts. Incidentally, how would you camouflage at a UFC event? What would you disguise the rifle as? Inquiring minds want to know. Anyway, UFC slipped to third with Watch Dogs resuming its watch in second place. GRID Autosport was the other new release to make the top ten, placing 7th, while Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark fell just short in 12th. Also outside the top ten and for the first time are 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and Mario Kart 8, dropping to 11th and 13th respectively.
Enter the dragon: EA Sports UFC is new champion of UK charts
EA Sports UFC toppled Watch Dogs to became the new UK No. 1 this week. The Ubisoft game hacked down competition for three weeks running, but the first UFC under EA's care proved too strong an opponent to make it four on the bounce. As for the rest of the charts, things are a bit slow in the post-E3 cooldown. The only other new release in this week's top 40 is MotoGP 14, the motorsport series' first entry on PS4. It fell just short of a top ten finish by placing 14th. So, which games are hanging tough in the UK top ten? Obviously you've got usual suspects like the FIFAs and Minecrafts, and Titanfall and Call of Duty: Ghosts aren't going away anytime soon. More interestingly, there are no real drop-offs as yet for Wolfenstein: The New Order and Mario Kart 8, with Bethesda's shooter fourth and Nintendo's racer seventh.
Watch Dogs still top dog in UK, despite the World Cup
The UK is still barking mad for Watch Dogs, even at the start of the World Cup. The footie tourney helped 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil surge to second in the charts, but it couldn't stop Ubisoft's big dog from notching its third No. 1 in a row. No surprises it's otherwise a quiet week for the UK charts, since few are brave/foolhardy enough to release a game during E3 week. Enemy Front is the only new release at 19th, Mario Kart 8 hangs tough in fourth, and Murdered: Soul Suspect drops from third to ninth.
Watch Dogs connects with UK audience, Murdered: Soul Suspect charts
Watch Dogs broke UK sales records for a new IP last week and, despite an 80 percent drop in sales, kept its spot the top dog status on the UK charts again. Mario Kart 8 grabbed the silver cup as Murdered: Soul Suspect had a surprisingly strong debut, selling only 400 copies less than the kart racer. Minecraft Playstation 3 Edition and Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition will be with us forever.
UK charts: Watch Dogs hacks up records, Mario Kart 8 boosts Wii U
Watch out Glenn Beck, because Watch Dogs is turning Brits into hackers too. The Ubisoft game broke the UK charts record for most copies sold by a new intellectual property at launch, toppling previous holder L.A Noire by a chunky 58 percent. No surprises it's Ubi's biggest ever week 1 seller in the country, beating Assassin's Creed 3 by 17 percent. That means Mario Kart 8 has to settle for the silver trophy, with sales-compiler Chart-Track saying it was "no contest" for top spot. The racer was still the proverbial super mushroom to the country's Wii U sales, which rose by a whopping 666 percent from the week before. With no hard numbers to hand, it's hard to assess if that says more about the new game's impact than the sales from the previous week. Either way, it's the highest we've seen a Wii U exclusive in the UK charts since Pikmin 3, even if it couldn't blue shell its way to the top.
Wolfenstein enjoys 2014's second-biggest debut in the UK
Wolfenstein is only second to Titanfall for first-week UK sales in 2014, after notching a quarter of the country's physical software sales last week. Even more impressively, that translates into 36 percent of all revenue for the week. The New Order in the UK charts has MachineGames' shooter on top, with Minecraft: PS3 Edition in second after debuting a place lower. FIFA 14 and Titanfall were swapping reigns at the top, but they have to make do with third and fourth respectively. This week it's a stand-off between Watch Dogs and Mario Kart 8, although the Wii U game launches three days later. The multiplatform Watch Dogs looks the most likely winner, but the venerable karter may just have a blue shell up its sleeve. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
UK Charts: FIFA 14 back in the lead, Minecraft PS3 debuts 3rd
FIFA 14 is the most successful FIFA yet in terms of the UK charts, having now held the No. 1 spot for a series-leading 12 weeks. It scraped over the line too, after beating Titanfall by a few hundred sales according to sales-compiler Chart Track. If you think that's a bit too much dominance, then how about this: Four of this week's top five games are from the FIFA and Minecraft series. Except there's only one Minecraft, I hear you cry, but the UK charts denotes the new Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition as separate from last year's Xbox 360 Edition. That means Minecraft PS3 is the highest-charting debut in third place, just ahead of Minecraft Xbox 360 and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. There are some big upcoming games that should split up the pack, such as Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs, but one new release that failed to do so was Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The puffball's platformer only debuted in 16th, making it the second first-party 3DS game in a row to fall short of the UK top ten after Mario Golf: World Tour. [Image: EA]
UK Charts: Titanfall respawns on top, Bound by Flame hits 12th
New releases have dried up ahead of May's big hitters, and right now the UK charts are more static than The Last Guardian's Wikipedia page. Titanfall retakes top spot from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, although it's hardly a plummet to the pavement for old Spidey; Activision's tie-in game stays as high as third. The only new release in the entire top 40 is Spiders' action-RPG Bound by Flame, and it took advantage of a quiet week to place 12th. Expect more fireworks in the charts when the likes of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs hit later this month. [Image: EA]
