Last week's physical UK chart saw the arrival of a key PlayStation 5 exclusive: Returnal. It debuted in a promising second place, which isn't too shabby for a pretty niche, single platform title. Despite glowing reviews, however, the game's physical sales have slumped, with the stylish shooter now sitting in 15th. Still, we have to assume this will quickly become Housemarque's biggest seller, and we've yet to hear about its sales performance on PlayStation Store.
One game's success is all but assured, though, and that's Resident Evil Village. The latest survival horror excursion has debuted in the number one spot, with almost half the physical sales being the PS5 version. In fact, PS5 and PS4 sales combined accounted for 80 per cent of physical units sold, which is pretty impressive.
Elsewhere, we have the usual suspects — FIFA 21 continues its appearance in the top 10 at number three, and Grand Theft Auto V is holding firm at number eight. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War rounds things out in 10th, while Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is still hovering just outside that, swinging about in 12th.
Here's the latest top 10 in full.
UK Sales Charts: Week Ending 8th May 2021
- Resident Evil Village
- New Pokémon Snap
- FIFA 21
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Minecraft (Switch)
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Ring Fit Adventure
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Comments 101
@Total_Weirdo It's possible the game will bounce back at retail, when PS5s come back in, and when it goes into sales etc. Plus, we don't know how well it's doing digitally — I can imagine it's faring better on PS Store, but we'll see.
Finished RE Village a few days ago and really enjoyed it. I hope it sells extremely well.
Got my copy of Returnal second-hand so sorry Housemarque.
@Total_Weirdo Also probably the fact that most reviews make it clear it's a hard game that's not for everyone. Which is fair.
That said, my Twitter feed is filled with Returnal more than it's been with any game ever - but that's probably because it determined I was interested in it, to be fair
Also, I'm sure this is still the best result Housemarque ever had.
@Quintumply Digital sales were revealed by Christopher During last weekend. Even if you include Returnals UK digital sales, it falls in behind the physical sales of New Pokemon Snap. So it was #2 for the week regardless.
@Haruki_NLI That's really not a surprise - what's interesting is how well it sold, not if it sold better than Pokemon - that was never going to happen
That's because Resident Evil Village is a better game overall. Returnal to me was not fun. It was annoying and pointless. Dying over and over and over. The collectibles not saving. I don't have time for a monotonous game like that
I legit want to know who at this point doesn't have at least one copy of GTAV?! Is there some UK tradition that it must be repurchased every week to have a plentiful harvest or something? 🙂
Hopefully it will continue to sell as more PS5s become available. It's one of those games that really showcases the power of the console and I think it's turned a few heads from some of the comments I've seen.
@Juanalf ✋me, I don't own a copy!
@Juanalf apparently it's cheaper to buy a new copy of the game with the shark card thing than buy the money in the game. That's one of the main reasons it keeps selling physical copies. I don't how true this is, but it would explain a lot.
If this is true, it's pretty irresponsible of Rockstar and TakeTwo to waste all those resources to keep selling copies when they could just make the shark cards cost in parity with the new game offer.
Be interesting to see digital sales too, I have a feeling Sony’s new price tag isn’t going down too well, especially when it comes to niche titles such as this. Everywhere you look, be it YouTube, here or wherever people are complaining about it.
Some interesting stats for RE8:
49% on PS5
31% on PS4
20% on Xbox
The interesting part is that it's yet another game that sells better on PS5 despite there being 10x more PS4's. Don't focus on the Xbox thing please
@Haruki_NLI A new IP vs. Pokemon? The latter is always going to win!
I'm torn on Returnal dropping out the top 10, I really want it to do well but at the same time I hope this happens with all Sony 1st party games till they drop their ridiculous prices here.
I'm not surprised RE Village is selling better on PS5, up until 3 weeks ago, I thought RE Village was only available on Next-Gen Systems (PS5, XSX & PC), soon as I found out it wasn't, I preordered the PS4 version with my already preordered PS5 version.
Returnal may be the main guinea pig in terms of the 70 price tag. Be interesting to see how Rift Apart fares as its an established franchise. I know console shortages haven't helped but I just want HouseMarque to have the best success they can honestly.
Glad to see Village is doing well. Im two lords down two to go
That was expected, really. Returnal is a great game but it’s definitely not mainstream enough to be popular for the vast majority.
I might try it in the future if the price drops but I can already tell it’s not my cup of tea. Too hard for a mediocre gamer like myself, and I simply don’t have the time (or patience) to be stuck at one level for an eternity.
As for RE, not surprised at all. A reputable franchise pretty much always sells by the bucket.
@Danloaded - Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart will undoubtedly perform better because like you said, it's an established series, additionally (And feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) June doesn't appear to have an other BIG games releasing in June, unlike May which had Returnal facing off against RE Village, Mass Effect Legendary Edition & Biomutant.
@JustPlainLoco ff7 Intergrade comes out the day before so thatl have an effect. The other games that month shouldnt cause too much fuss, maybe guilty gear but thats a specific crowd
@Quintumply Shame he didn't say what percentage of sales were digital. That'd give us a rough idea of the skew in where it's being bought.
Given it's pick up and play nature (in theory anyway) I'd have said digital.
Returnal really released at a bad time. A week before RE8, 2 weeks before Mass Effect, and a month before Ratchet and Clank. Im guessing that hurt sales because I skipped it for RE8, ME, and R&C.
Ok, so Returnal was number 3 in US and 4 in Europe on PS Store in April... and that's with a release on literally the last day of the month.
Not bad.
Both RE8 and Returnal doing great in the charts and thoroughly deserved.
Returnal leaving the top 10 is to be expected, in particular when only 5 people have PS5 lol
Ye Returnal is great . Hopefully it will return to the top 10. 😉😉😉
Really enjoying RE Village so far. The dreaded stalking part is minuscule - no where near as annoying as Mr X in RE2 Remake. Was nothing to worry about in the end thank god.
A game sells best on PlayStation in a country that significantly favors PlayStation consoles?!
Let me find my surprised face.
In other news, Nintendo games sell better in Japan.
No excuses now. Returnal is a beautiful game, but most of the UK has voted with it's wallet. £70 ($97USD) is too much! Resi is smashing it on ps5 at £55 ($70 USD). Let's hope Sony are looking at the UK numbers and figure it out.
I would buy Returnal if I could get a PS5
@Loftimus it's got little to do with the price. RE is an established brand on multi platforms with mainstream appeal and months of hype. Returnal is PS5 only in a niche genre and no save function which put many players (including myself) off.
Hades sold less than Mario Kart, it must obviously be the pricing 🤣 c’mon guys apple and oranges
@Spaldy everybody i know in the real world (all gamers) have said the same reason. The price! None of us care about difficulty or long runs, it's the price mate.
@nessisonett maybe your sense of humor will help you beat the game or at the very least find enjoyment from the inevitable deaths
@Total_Weirdo I’m sure returnal is great and I’d love to try it but it’s not my kind of game generally. That £70 tag makes it too difficult to just impulse buy. Unfortunately I’m sure many others look at it similarly.
@uptownsoul Only thing I can think is that the majority of people in UK with Xbox aren't buying games and instead focusing on Game Pass subs.
That is a pretty significant gap.
@2cents I dunno, I’ve played for two hours and died once. That was the mandatory death as well. At least I have all these permanent upgrades to help when I inevitably die!
UK sucks, Returnal should still be number one. Amazing game. Anyone who buys Fifa is a clown.
@nessisonett on the bright side you’re playing after major updates! Half of my mandatory deaths came from system crashes
@Loftimus
You can't honestly compare sales of Returnal to Resident Evil and conclude that it's all down to the price.
I love how 4 or the 6 gamepass games announced for May were already free on Plus.
@2cents Oof that’s my worst nightmare. Imagine playing Dark Souls or Binding of Isaac if a crash could wipe out your progress 😬
@Spaldy of course not, but now its two £70 "niche" games that have bombed. These are the ONLY two "niche" games released at £70 and both have bombed. The only thing that got those two up the charts (in the UK) was the fomo "next gen" factor.
I don't see why you're defending poor sales. Nobody is saying they are bad games, just poorly priced in the UK.
@Voltan there's a chance that Xbox players are going to wait for the game to appear on the Game Pass as you can already play Resident Evil 7 (and others in the series) on there. I'm only speculating, but I know from speaking to friends that they are holding out for it on there...
@Loftimus
How has Returnal bombed? The article says it's likely to be Housemarque's biggest selling game. Also I never said it was a bad game, I haven't played it. Why are you using niche in quotes?
@Spaldy because no AAA ps5 game is niche. Everyone wants Demon's souls and Returnal but we've all got spider-man and resi 8.
Returnal left itself with a niche crowd given its (at least perceived) difficulty, coupled with price. Personally I have no desire to play it because of that. One can be all 'get gud' etc all they like, but a simple 'Easy' check box for some wouldn't have changed how other people wanted to play the game if they wanted it harder, and would have drummed up more sales for sure.
@Loftimus nonsense, roguelites are an incredibly niche genre that absolutely don't appeal to the masses, regardless of whether it's triple A or not.
@Intr1n5ic i disagree. At a more competitive price, this game could have thrived.
@Loftimus You disagree that roguelites/likes are a niche genre?
Why did Hades, a game which was goty for most critics and people who played it, sell so much less than other big releases?
No i disagree that a AAA roguelike can't do well.
@Intr1n5ic hades is not AAA.
@Loftimus Your specific words were: no triple A PS5 game is niche, which is a complete nonsense statement.
Now your moving the goal posts and saying you disagree that a AAA roguelike can't do well. Who are you disagreeing with, who said they couldn't?
We don't know the sales figures of Returnal yet. It released at no.2 in the physical sales charts behind Pokemon, and was 3rd in digital sales in the US, and 4th in digital sales in Europe for the month of April, and it released on the last day.
Until we get official feedback on how many units it sold, it's ridiculous going around stating it's bombed.
@Intr1n5ic we are talking about the UK specifically here and in the UK sales charts (physical only), it has bombed! I am saying at a more reasonable price point it would still be up there. Why are you defending the £70 so heavily?
@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L it would have done better than it has and more people would have taken a gamble because it's AAA ps5 exclusive. So the HIGH price has hindered it! I said it COULD have thrived not Would.
Edit i've just checked and i did put would. My mistake. I've changed it to what it should be.
@Loftimus I'm stating that you have absolutely no idea how well this game would have sold at a lower price, what you're saying is called an assumption. And it released at no.2 physically in the UK, (only beaten by a new Pokemon game), on a system with a fraction of the market share of it's competitors. In what way did it bomb?
Is the price point what this is all about? You're upset about £70 so you want to go around posting about how these games are failing?
"I said it COULD have thrived not Would."
You actually said WOULD.
@Intr1n5ic already adressed the could would should. Ok lets just say it bombed because it niche and not because Sony has got their heads up their arse when it comes to UK pricing. Happy?
@Loftimus I'll comment on how well it's done when official figures are released stating how well it's done.
@Intr1n5ic nice one and i'll use my eyes and see for myself. See ya later...
Completed RE8 last night on hardcore what a game but I'm really disappointed in Returnal I completed that last week and thought it was unbelievable! That bloody 70 quid price tag
Nothing too surprising about the Resident Evil: Village sales numbers and with PS5 totaling the largest numbers, I view that as good news. Shows the appetite for the new gen is there, just need for more PS5s and Series X consoles to get out to people so devs can fully move on.
@nessisonett Bought it full price to support them and i dont even own a PS5 yet. But i love their games and i want them.
@Loftimus For me its the other way around. 🤪
@Juanalf Me i dont own it. 😅
"...49% of its sales were on PS5, 31% on PS4 and 20% on Xbox"
And already PS5 is becoming the place for 3rd party to sell games. And lots of them.
Basically guaranteed amazing 3rd party support for the next 8 years - just like PS4.
@Flaming_Kaiser If you can stomach spending £70 on essentially plastic that you can’t use then that’s your prerogative.
@Flaming_Kaiser You've got your head up Sonys arse over the UK pricing?
@nessisonett I have all their games and i loved them all so i dont mind paying for it. There are not many developers i like that much.
@Loftimus I dont life in the UK so thats that. If i look at games that give me a lot fun without any seasonpass or other ***** their games are worth the price though.
@fR_eeBritney she is a lot more prominent in village of shadows mode. Think of it as Jack in Madhouse mode in RE7. She has enemies with her too.
Also of course RE would sell best on PS5, it's a Sony franchise. Doesn't matter what other platforms it appears on, Resi is a PlayStation franchise through and through. Always was. Might have dabbled elsewhere like dream cast but points stands.
@Loftimus Anyone who thinks that price doesn't matter is kidding themselves. There's a reason why sales and discounts exist.
@Voltan Sorry, i can't help but focus on the Xbox thing cause it doesn't say how much is Xbone and series xs. 🤔
@nessisonett Lol I guess the person that sold it found it too difficult and just gave up.
@Nem There’s only one Xbox disc version of the game, because “smart delivery” - so they can’t really tell who bought it for which console.
@RubyCarbuncle It was somebody off here and honestly, not everybody has the time or energy for a roguelike. Not for me to judge.
@nessisonett Ahh I see. Admittedly as much as I like Returnal it certainly has taken a lot of my energy and I think I'm getting to a point where I'll have to take a break.
Getting older is a pain in the neck.
Third party games always sells best on playstation 😃. Also wow that's crazy, I guess all xbox peoples are only waiting for "free" games on gamepass now, it's like ios and android where's most software sold waays better on ios.
It's because it's not on Gamepass
@Agramonte And Microsoft knows it, which is why they're buying up as many studios they can. To force people to buy it on a Microsoft platform, otherwise we'd just pick them up on PS5.
It's somewhat surprising that PS5 has most of the sales. I'm not sure why. Puzzling.
However people need to get used to most being PlayStation being more and more dominant even more this new gen.. It's just the reality of install base. Nothing to do with GamePass or whatever highly promoted subscription
@Voltan
If that 'smart delivery' fault was PlayStation it would be an outrage all over the internet haha
Edit
And I mean pushed by the press. Not just a twitter thing.
@fR_eeBritney Agreed. Mr X spoiled the RE2 remake for me personally. He was just TOO present. Particularly given he didnt exist in Scenario A in the PS1 release. I ended up buying the gun dlc with the mini gun just to get through it as i got fed up with him.
The equivalent section in Village was absolutely fine and perfectly manageable. Granted the terror was lessened as a result, but conversely meant i wasn't cursing the game.
Currently just arrived at the home of the second lord (being vague to avoid spoilers). Loving this game so far!
@ATaco This is totally a thing imo. I emphasise this is just my thought process before my morning coffee and i might be completely wrong before anyone shouts at me.
I think people will largely stop buying games on xbox in the hope they drop on game pass. Which means microsoft will have to:
A) spend more money striking deals with 3rd parties to launch on game pass (like outriders) - otherwise devs/publishers may become dissatisfied with sales performance on the green machine
B) if A) happens, the price of game pass will have to increase to fund it, unless they continue to see exponential growth in game pass subs (and tbh i dont see this slowing down, particularly if they launch xcloud on smart tv's, more mobile devices, the switch(!?) etc.
The worst option would be
C) Microsoft continue to aquire more multiplatform development teams to keep their games off Playstation. There's the argument that companies have to want to sell, but at the end of the day, if Shareholders see Microsoft coming with a huge bag of money there is a high chance they will at least consider it.
Two other things about Game Pass are:
1. There is simply so much for people to play, chances are they wont rush out to buy a new release.
2. Many games on the service are not permanent additions and could be removed at any time. So if someone is playing something planned for delisting, they are more likely to want to finish that than buy a new game.
Obviously the strength of the Playstation brand is important here too. Resident Evil started on the Playstation and i've always associated the series with the platform (hence RE4 launching on gamecube was a shock!)
The dualsense features will also have encouraged many with both consoles to go for the PS5 version.
I'm still surprised the PS4 sales didn't exceed PS5 given the install base
Whatever the case, Village is excellent and well deserving of its sales success- regardless of the platform
If you're a large third party developers what's the frigging point releasing a game on Xbox?
Their audience now expect every game to one day come to GP and are prepared to wait, forever if needs be, for this eventuality. They've become self-entitled gamers and also lazy ones, just content to play whatever Xbox throws their way.
PS players are capable of making grown-up decisions on which games they buy and when. Xbox gamers want MS to make the decision for them.
😝
@Col_McCafferty
Or perhaps point 1 from the comment above yours is simply more applicable.
No surprise Village did so well. It's a wonderful game to play. I have been having a blast with it!
Paid $89.99 plus tax in Canadian $ first day for Returnal. Took me about 50 hours to finish it (now I’m going back for secret ending). Really is an amazing game. I had never played a roguelike game before but I was blown away at how fun and rewarding the experience was.
@Voltan So you get a Xbox One version and it updates? If thats the case that sucks or is that not the way?
@Flaming_Kaiser I don't have an Xbox so I wouldn't know, sorry. It's not impossible that both versions are on the disc or that smart delivery means there's actually one version that behaves differently depending on the console (because the OS is mostly the same on both). Not sure
Who the hell is still buying GTA V?
@JapaneseSonic really? it seems more like denial from people who are trying to justify their purchase. I'm sure those numbers that have been reported are real.
@JJ2 I think the PS5 has most of the sales because it has a dedicated PS5 version to show off what the new hardware can do (not just a souped-up PS4 version) and PS5 dedicated games aren't exactly common at the moment.
Also these are only the physical sales so it's an incomplete picture.
Could be that the PS4 owners will have been pre-ordering/buying Mass Effect Legendary Edition and/or Biomutant instead?
@JapaneseSonic on European and UK psn, with all its pre orders it couldnt beat fifa 21 that is free on ea play (or two more games below fifa) . I personally see that as a bad start. Whether i want to or not.
@Voltan I really need to look that up just because i want to know. 😅
@Loftimus What do they need to justify if they like who cares and yeah its shocking FIFA21 won against a new IP on a console with a small userbase. 🤪
@Flaming_Kaiser when its free with ea play and been on sale multiple occasions in the 8 months it has been out, yeah, it is shocking.
@Voltan Smart of them indeed.
@Loftimus Lets see a big sports IP with more then a 100 million on PS4 users alone then we have. A Xbox base yeah its shocking it beats 8,5 million consoles that have a lot on Ebay. 🤪
@Flaming_Kaiser its only the fifa sales for april. Like i've said, most people who wanted fifa would have picked it up long before now. So those april fifa numbers won't be very high at all.
@Voltan The PS5 version includes the PS4 version, so my take is that a lot of gamers were being smart and future-proofing their copies.
@Loftimus So what with GTA 5.
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