UK Sales Charts: F1 2018 Holds onto Pole Position Ahead of PES 2019

A sporting effort

by Stephen Tailby Mon 3rd Sep 2018

We're on the precipice of one of the year's busiest months for games, and the UK's weekly physical chart is starting to see some changes. A handful of new releases launched last week, but only a couple made it into the top 10.

Most notably, PES 2019 has debuted in second place, while F1 2018 enjoys another week at the top. While that may seem a decent result for Konami's football title, some number crunching by GamesIndustry shows that its sales are 42% lower than last year's entry. Whether this is because of the loss of the Champions League licence is hard to say, but it probably hasn't helped matters.

Elsewhere, Yakuza: Kiwami 2 puts in a decent showing at number 5, just under Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Shenmue I & II has plummeted down to 33rd after debuting in second position last week. Other new releases include Firewall Zero Hour, Strange Brigade, and Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition, all charting below the top 10 at 11th, 16th, and 23rd respectively.

It's nice to see a little more activity in the chart as we come into the busy season. Here's the latest top 10 in full.

UK Sales Charts: Week Ending 1st September, 2018

F1 2018
PES 2019
Grand Theft Auto V
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Yakuza: Kiwami 2
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
God of War
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
FIFA 18

[source gamesindustry.biz, via ukie.org.uk]

Stephen has been part of the Push Square team for over six years, bringing boundless enthusiasm and a deep knowledge of video games to his role as Assistant Editor. Having grown up playing every PlayStation console to date, he's developed an eclectic taste, with particular passion for indie games, arcade racers, and puzzlers. He's also our go-to guy for Sonic-related matters, much to his delight/chagrin.

1
ApostateMage
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

Cracking race yesterday at Monza. Lewis (and Bottas) was superb, even managed to quieten the Tifosi and make them leave early. I felt for Kimi, though.

2
SPGFan34
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

Got The Crew 2 for my birthday last week!

3
Bonbonetti
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

Hm, you wrote F1 2019 on the list but the game is F1 2018.

While the real F1 has been a boring and predictable affair for many years now (compared to Indycar), at least the game-world allows for an F1 experience that's exciting to experience.

4
Quintumply
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@Bonbonetti Good spot, fixed!

5
Th3solution
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

And the popular trend of using copies of GTAV to wallpaper the house continues I see.

6
RogerRoger
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@Th3solution One disc for the console, six to use as drinks coasters, three to use as frisbees for when you walk the dog, nine to lay out a big smiley face on your floor to greet you every morning, one to ignore the disc and use the box as a funny mouth that yells swear-words at family gatherings... and we've still only accounted for a third of the sales.

Do people even play F1 games any more? Most definitely my ignorance talking, but I'm really surprised to see it take the top spot (over a football game, no less).

7
RogerRoger
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@LaNooch1978 As long as they're buying them in even-numbered quantities, my own OCD is okay with that.

8
Nightcrawler71
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

I find it amazing that nearly 4 years on GTA V is still outselling brand new titles like Divinity: Original Sin 2 (which has had good reviews)!

9
Bonbonetti
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@RogerRoger F1 is still very popular in the UK, especially with Lewis Hamilton (a fellow Brit) always winning in recent years. Typically there are also 2-3 British teams involved (McLaren, Williams, etc.), so traditionally F1 has a strong British presence. There's also the fact that Codemasters, the developers, are British.

As a game F1 is certainly less popular now than in the past I think, looking at the entire gaming world and not just the UK, even EA used to make F1 games for example. Today the F1 games are only popular in certain specific countries, like the UK and Brazil, in most countries it won't make the Top 10.

10
JAMes-BroWWWn
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

God of War aka Game of Generation been in the top ten, in the UK charts, for 4 months and 1 week. Word up, players!

11
RogerRoger
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@Bonbonetti Makes sense, thanks, and you're right; both my folks schedule their days around watching the races. I guess I didn't really think of it as a "young gamer" thing, but that's probably the fault of my own assumptions and ignorance. Can't argue with sales figures!

12
Bonbonetti
Mon 3rd Sep 2018

@RogerRoger I think younger gamers are always on the lookout for the next big popular game, regardless of genre it seems, especially if it allows for multiplayer. The F1 games by Codemasters usually have a rather large multiplayer base. Alongside Dirt Rally and Assetto Corsa, a Codemasters' F1 game is one of the more "trendy" racing games to play. I think these are the reasons they are popular with younger gamers.