Update: GamesIndustry.biz's Christopher Dring has explained that the initial report was actually incorrect, and that the original Metroid Prime remains the fastest-selling game of the series when looking at physical sales alone. However, the difference between physical launch sales for the two titles was less than 1,000 units, meaning that should Dread's digital sales also be included, the Switch exclusive would "almost certainly" be the fastest-selling.
I've just had an update from GfK. Metroid Dread actually isn't the fastest-selling Metroid. That remains Metroid Prime on GameCube (by less than 1,000 units). With digital, Dread almost certainly is the fastest-selling Metroid. But we don't have digital.
Original Article: UK physical chart data is now in for the week ending 9th October, revealing that Metroid Dread has become the fastest-selling game in the series' history in the country.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that the game's physical launch has 'eclipsed' sales of Wii's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which previously boasted the series' strongest launch figures, and that it has sold three and a half times as many copies as Metroid: Samus Returns managed on its release back in 2017. Digital sales are yet to be revealed for the title, meaning Dread's total sales will actually be even stronger still.
Its early success makes it the fifth-biggest Switch launch of 2021 in the UK so far; only Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Monster Hunter Rise and New Pokémon Snap sold more copies on their debut weeks.
Elsewhere, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania debuted in eighth place, selling best on Switch by a comfortable margin. 70% of those physical copies were shifted on Nintendo's platform, with PS5 accounting for 17%. FIFA 22 remains in top spot for a second consecutive week.
Here's a look at this week's top ten all formats chart:
Last Week | This Week | Title |
---|---|---|
1 |
1 | FIFA 22 |
- |
2 | Far Cry 6 |
- |
3 | Metroid Dread |
2 |
4 |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
- |
5 | Alan Wake Remastered |
5 |
6 | Minecraft (Switch Edition) |
7 |
7 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
- |
8 |
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania |
10 |
9 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury |
9 |
10 |
Grand Theft Auto V |
[Compiled by GFK]
Did you buy any of these chart-topping games this week? Let us know down below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 81
This is the best opening comment ever.
Well Nintendo did do a pretty remarkable job marketting it, it felt like you couldn't go a minute without seeing it somewhere.
Awesome game! Definitely deserves all the sales it can get.
"It's early success makes it the fifth biggest Switch launch of 2021 in the UK so far; only Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Monster Hunter Rise and New Pokémon Snap sold more copies on their debut weeks."
That's irksome that two ports have done better than a new game on Switch, but there you go I suppose. It'll be nice to get definite numbers on sales.
Great start for the games sales figures. Let’s hope it continues to flourish so we can get more Metroid on Switch in the future. Prime 4 will need to be incredible if it’s going to eclipse Dread.
Here's hoping this can breath much needed life into the Metroid franchise and lead the way to more great future entries. I was beginning to despair of ever saying this again but... it's a good time to be a Metroid fan!
Good to hear it's doing well, such an amazing game. And this is only a small sample size(these charts are only tracking physical sales in a small market like the UK). Metroid's biggest market will be the US, so it'll be interesting to get the full scope when the the time comes.
Well the benchmark is not all that high.
It was always going to be a challenge to one up FIFA & FC6 in the UK. The real challenge now is if Metroid can keep sales numbers going and remain in the chart for weeks. Being a 2D game that’s not Mario, it may end up being shunned by the general UK game-purchasing public and I imagine most people who wanted the game would have been out to buy it Day 1.
Where is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart ? 😕
@MS7000 The article looked impressive until they got to that bit.
Good, hopefully a certain pathetic website's idiotic article promoting piracy doesn't hurt the game's sales longterm. Want to see more 2D Metroid and not have to almost 2 decades again.
Biggest UK retail Switch launches of 2021:
1) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury: ~56,000
2) Skyward Sword HD: ~41,000
3) Monster Hunter Rise: ~30,000
4) New Pokemon Snap: ~26,000
5) Metroid Dread: ~23,000
6) Mario Golf Super Rush: ~16,500
Hard to know exactly what Metroid Dread sales are, but at least we have a range.
For comparison's sake, 2017's Metroid Samus Returns sold 4,000-5,000 copies during it's UK retail launch.@Anti-Matter Maybe it gets there once it's on a platform that actually exists :/
Absolutely deserved, it's a phenomenal game, I loved every second of it. Even if some parts were a bit more frustrating.
@Einherjar and the price is actually reasonable £70 is a little too much atm imo
Good Good, now what is our Christmas game Nintendo??
Fantabulous game any day anywhere.
@Anti-Matter Last time it was in the chart was 21 September:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/09/uk_charts_cruisn_blast_just_sneaks_into_top_40_warioware_stays_in_top_ten
this paired with the article about emulation and all it's comments about how the sales are being so desperately harmed is very funny
Just wondering if Metroid would have been higher than third if some people actually paid for it and not stole it? 🤔
Getting the morphball ability has never been this satisfying in a Metroid game, I'm having a bast playing, it deserves all the sales it can get
@fox_mattcloud no! Hope that helps 😀
Considering the top two are multiplatform so have more chances to sell well, that is impressive.
I fail to see why this doesn't sell better than Monster Hunter Rise.
@Bunkerneath
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/ Shining Pearl
Damn right it's amazing!!
Alexa, reverse sort the top 9 games by length of title.
Well I contributed a sale and its my first Metroid game. I owned Metroid Prime but never played. Haven’t got round to playing yet though, another addition to the backlog. A bit disappointed to have plumped for a Special Edition to find out they are still widely available. There goes my mini windfall in a decade when I’m selling it 😂
I brought Monkey Ball over Metroid Dread as adore the original Monkey Ball's. I will pick up Metroid at some point tho. Just too many new games out at one time along with the OLED.
@Friendly
Monster Hunter Rise has shipped 7.5 million as of September 2021, 6 months after launch.
The best-selling Metroid game of all time (as of now - Metroid Dread should easily take that record) is Metroid Prime with 2.84 million copies shipped lifetime.
You are surprised Monster Hunter had a bigger launch than Metroid?
I figured top 2 was going to be FIFA 22 and FC6 but for a franchise that has mostly had unfortunate release timing in some way (last time that wasn't the case was in 2004), 3rd for Metroid Dread is impressive.
"fifth biggest Switch launch of 2021 in the UK "
So, it didn't do very well then?
The £20 price cut for the standard Switch and the launch of the OLED model has gradually lifted Switch software sales pretty significantly over the last month.
For example, Mario Kart 8 DX sold 80% more copies last week than it did during the first full week of September. Similarly large boosts can be seen with Animal Crossing New Horizons and Minecraft (and other Switch evergreens).
No suprise there. People where screaning for a new metroid for a while. Same as with a new Fzero (read this nintendo, lol)
This is what happends when they start listening to their fans.
Dread is a fantastic game. I wasnt sold on it to start with but after a few hours in im loving it. I think the thing with metroid is you either know you want it or know its not going to be for you. Its part and parcel of the genre. Mario is always going to sell well as it appeals to a broader spectrum of ages. I cant see many parents buying dread for the kids to play, can you. Zelda is just zelda. Always gonna sell.
Amazing what happens when you actually market a game, who would've thought.
Nintendo are geniuses.
🙄
@westman98 yes, I’m surprised as to the Why. Why is Monster Hunter a bigger franchise? What makes it so that that game is more enticing to people than metroid?
@westman98
Metroid dread did 3.5x Samus returns’ sales, so if we say Samus returns was 4950, then Dread was roughly 17,350.
Had to be the higher end of Returns’ sales otherwise it wouldn’t eclipse Super Rush
@Bunkerneath Pokémon Gen 4 Remakes, SMT V, and Advance Wars 1+2 are the Christmas lineup
How did Monkey Ball Blitz HD in the UK chart back in 2019?
@Friendly
I guess hunting monsters to craft their parts is more appealing than exploring planets as Samus 🤷.
@Chibi
That Samus Returns sales figure is a very loose personal estimate, so take that number with a big grain of salt. It could very well have sold above 5,000 copies (though probably not by too much).
Everything other figure I listed is much more precise - within 5% margin of error.
@Friendly why monster hunter is bigger? Not a 2D platformer, more replay value, multiplayer fun hunting monsters, hundreds of different armor and weapons to craft, the fact some monster hunter games have gone multi platform gathering more players, bigger budget AAA game overall mean more interest and more popular, I mean I could go to work and most people would of heard of monster hunter but not Metroid
@JohnnyC Hopefully, Dread has done enough that it will stand on its own two feet despite being in the other games' shadow.
@Friendly Regarding Monster Hunter, I would argue the game is more appealing due to multiplayer and the simple objective of "Kill the big monster". But the other reason would be that the series has been constantly getting new games over the last 20 years, whilst Metroid games have been a lot more spaced out over the last 35 years; as a result, Monster Hunter is more recognisable so will more likely draw an audience.
The sales are likely not all that impressive then.
I think Metroid will always be a niche title in reality. It certainly just never clicked for me. I tried getting into Super Metroid back when it released and again recently and I still don't really 'get it'.
Can't wait for Prime 4 on the other hand...
I'm more interested how it did in the US and Japanese charts. UK is UK.
How come you rarely publish the US numbers? Is the chart not available, unlike the UK and Japanese ones?
@Einherjar 47% of all far cry 6 sales were ps5, 63% of Alan wake sales were ps5. Not bad for a platform that doesn't exist eh!
@Tryffel
Banana Mania retail launch sales were 2× higher than that of Banana Blitz HD.
@UltimateOtaku91 @MS7000 it’s probably the more recent back to back great games in the Monster Hunter franchise. And multiplatform acknowledgement and recognition. Probably also the reason they wanted to implement multiplayer in Metroid Prime 2 or Prime Hunters.
Maybe also the platform and targeted audience too. Not many moms will buy Metroid for their kids, even though they should.
I hope Nintendo will get some more ‘mature’ series such as Metroid back to their old standard. Dread is an awesome step in the right direction.
Switch sells well, so why shouldn't good games on the Switch sell well as well?
@Quarth Nintendo Life is a UK based company (evidence: https://nlife.com/). That’s why it often features the UK boxed sales chart.
They also publish Japanese sales charts too, for example: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/10/japanese-charts-fifa-22s-legacy-edition-is-switchs-best-seller-of-the-week
Updated - Biggest UK retail Switch launches of 2021:
1) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury: ~56,000
2) Skyward Sword HD: ~41,000
3) Monster Hunter Rise: ~30,000
4) New Pokemon Snap: ~26,000
5) Metroid Dread: ~23,000
6) Mario Golf Super Rush: ~16,500
UK retail launch sales:
> Metroid Prime: ~24,000
> Metroid Prime 2 Echoes: ~8,000
> Metroid Prime 3 Corruption: ~19,000
> Metroid Prime Federation Force: <500 (lol)
> Metroid Samus Returns: ~6,500
> Metroid Dread: ~23,000
@Quarth US has monthly NPD charts, we'll find out how well Metroid Dread did in the US in mid-November.
@westman98 tnx!
Hope it will sell at least three or four times as much in the uk
That money they didn't spend on making the game (this is a medium budget game) they spend it on marketing, it showed and now it's paying off, well done Nintendo, game's awesome.
@Friendly monster hunter Rise is for me so far the game of the year and the best Monster Hunter game so far. Thanks to world monster hunter did grow in the west a lot. Metroid is amazing so far too but I think its still more niche than monster hunter at this point.
Kinda to much hype for Metroid nothing special about the game but i do love that people like it and want more Tried it and meh... Sorry for those that got offended but even castlevania gba collection is better sorry yet again
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
@Nin_1151 Congrats, you're not just a criminal, you're also an *****.
Metroid Dread is shattering records held by other games in the series, which is all that matters. It's really solid brand growth, and it'll almost unquestionably become the best-selling entry in the series.
This bodes well for Metroid Prime 4.
@Alacazoom My recommendation is to just put people like that on your ignore list and move on. They're trolling for attention and outrage. Best not to acknowledge them.
@MS7000 Are you actually surprised, though? It's Mario and Zelda, two of the biggest Nintendo franchises that absolutely everyone knows. They're always going to be the biggest sellers. And later in the year, Metroid is going to drop another rank because Pokemon will outsell it in about one day.
You just can't get around the fact that there are literal millions of casual gamers and parents buying games for their kids. Those people aren't looking for what's new and hot, they don't read reviews, they don't know the history of Nintendo. They pick the brands they recognise, and that means Mario, Pokemon and Zelda. Every time.
@Cakefish Yeah, I know all that. I was just wondering about the US one. Thanks anyway.
@Grumblevolcano That explains it. Thanks!
@JasmineDragon Surprised? No, not really. Still annoyed to high heaven though as it sends the wrong message. As you said, the people buying these games probably buy because of name alone and some will also not realise that the games are ports with minimal added to them (although I am sure people will argue with me that what has been added is quite substantial but that is its own sack of potatoes), but it irks me that people will not give new games a chance.
@Alacazoom yeah just ignore him, he only arrived yesterday and seems hell bent on looking for attention. The mods will probably jog him on soon.
I'm 2 hours into Metroid Dread and so far it's everything I could have wanted from a modern, full blown 2D Metroid. I am so happy with it!
@Nin_1151 Imagine spending your time trolling a Nintendo website rather then playing on your "powerful" PC.
8 is over two times more than 3. It's clear who the real winner was...
...yeah, ok. It was Metroid wasn't it.
Still, Monkeyball in the charts in 2021 makes me very happy
But lordy, if Dread isn't a game of the year game! Stunning.
@WallyWest Don't pay any mind to the grey lords.
I am very pleased to hear this. Hopefully this will ensure more 2D Metroid games in the future!
FIFA 22 is at the top in the UK? The Queen is displeased...
@CactusMan I'll be sure to get Mario Kart at some point but my Oled is arriving tomorrow alongside the Ori collection. Last time I played a Mario Kart was on the Wii. Looking forward to playing on a Nintendo machine even if my first games are Xbox ones 😂. It's a step closer to having all systems.
@Yosher I’m at the beginning so I have some time to go. Just curious, how long did you take to beat it?
@Pusher2021 The end screen showed 14 hours but that was with a lot of keeping the game paused due to current circumstances I'm in. I'd say it should probably be closer to 12 hours, maybe 11. But I've also seen screenshots from other people of like 7 to 10 hours.
it is ok... not impressive, just ok... I can see it being out of the top 10 by next week.
I hope it continues selling well. It deserves it.
If anyone reading this is on the fence about getting it, just do it, it’s awesome!
@Pigeon "Hooray, we're getting Remasters of the PS2 games! I'm gonna celebrate by buying 5 more copies of GTAV!".
That's a positive way to frame it.
Finally some recognition for this great series and game.
Rockstar: Is it time for us to make GTA VI now?
[Look at UK chart, see GTA V still selling like hotcakes].
Rockstar: Guess we'll keep it selling for another 8 more years.
[Puts GTA VI back on the development shelves til 2030].
I have read some entertaining reviews and articles that say the action cranks up when Samus fights Metroids in Dread and that everyone should pick up Fusion on 3Ds. You know a game has hype when people who clearly know nothing about it, write about it for clicks. Reassuring that Nintendolife actually know their stuff.
@GrailUK The mods did their job...all is good in the world.
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