UK Charts: FIFA 21 Goes Straight To Number One, But Only 2% Of Sales Were On Switch

They will just keep doing cheap reskins of old games on switch because no one wanted to buy the switch version

I would be interested in just how many copies that 2% is.

2% is still too high. Switch might be underpowered in comparison to the other consoles, but there are great experiences in it. There are no excuses for lazy rehashes, EA.

I have FIFA 18 on Switch. I bought it cheap just before FIFA 19 came out, as I wanted the free world cup dlc. It's a decent portable game. I don't play football games often enough or follow the sport closely enough to care who plays for who, so this will probably suit me until the next gen.

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe in previous launch weeks the Switch version of Fifa got 1% of the sales so 2% is actually better and therefore no incentive for EA to change its approach.

Anyway, 5 Switch titles still in the top 10, pretty impressive!

@JohnnyC I wish I bought that version and now you can't even purchase it digitally.

I'm not surprised, the people I've met that play Fifa were exclusively PlayStation/Xbox gamers...and they thought Nintendo was for kids and PC was for losers. So I'm guessing the 2% is kids that want to be like the people I mentioned...but their parents are in charge of their gaming.

...whatever, don't support EA and buy decent games folks

Even the Wii instalments got exclusive content to compensate for the lack of parity. I can look past the rehashing of content for the most part; it's football for crying out loud. How much of it can they radically change?

It's still a great game of football, probably the best handheld football game on the market for the foreseeable future, but EA aren't going to get diehard fans on board with their complacency. If EA possessed a modicum of business sense, they would have put in just a smidge more effort so that diehard fans would want to buy both the Switch and either of the home console versions.

My local store had an abundance of FIFA games behind the counter on launch day, presumably expecting them to fly out the door. It's sad and unsurprising that there wasn't a single Switch copy there. If EA were smart, there would have been a Switch hardware bundle launching alongside the PS4 version.

I supported FIFA 18 and 19 on day one. The fact that there was a Champions Edition of FIFA 19 seemed like an encouraging sign that EA were taking the Switch more seriously, but nope, the very next instalment was a sorry "Legacy Edition". I'll still grab FIFA 21 for the updated kits, but I won't be buying it at launch, and I certainly have no intention of paying anywhere near the suggested retail price for it.

A football game going to number one in a football mad country. Who'd have thought.

Until my beloved non league team, South Shields appears in a game, I'll continue with football manager games.

How much do they usually sell? 1 million? If so, that would mean 20000 copies would be for switch. 20000 x 50 pounds would be a million pounds in total sales. Surely that would cover the development costs for the switch version.

@TheFullAndy well the 2% is only better if the overall sales numbers were greater. If they are less then it isn't as good. Just because the percentage is higher doesn't mean more units being sold.

ladasta is write. it seams switch sold so little, but it sold alot

and it may break the world record, and everybody, rember to put #FreeFortnite

They will use this as rationale to not release Madden on the Switch. I would be fine with an incomplete version or one that doesn’t look as sharp, have bells & whistles etc.

You know what really grinds my gears, I commented on how lazy EA are with Switch, & someone actually defended them, trying to call me out. I don't even play FIFA & this years' Switch edition triggered me!

@Zenszulu .

Good point.

Still 2% is too much of any amount sold for a 45 quid squad update.

It’s the uk charts and we love football. No surprise

Who cares about FIFA, I want EA to get Panic Button to port Squadrons!

Switch version of FIFA 21 sold just under 7,000 copies at launch, which roughly the same as what it sold last year at launch.

Overall FIFA 21 retail launch sales are down 42% YoY. Will be interesting to sell how much the PS5/XSX|S versions sell at launch given that they are fully backwards compatible with the PS4/XBO versions.

If they'd actually treat the Switch version with care for once that number would likely get a decent boost. They have no right to complain whatsoever anyway.

Shame on that 2%

I bought FIFA 19 a while back when on sale and really enjoyed it. No desire at all for yearly updates so these legacy editions don’t bother me.

@AcridSkull shame on the purchasers of a 7 year old first party port at full price with the great quality of 720p 30fps.

At the very least EA managed to get the best settings out of the hardware.

Because the Switch version is the one from 2 or 3 years ago with a 60 dollar player roster update. It's NOT FIFA 21.

Sorry EA, no matter how many times you show me ads saying I can 'Win as One", I'm not going to buy your FIFA game. Also, it's nice to see the new Crash selling well.

Fifa seems to be doing decently on the eshop sadly.

There's a reason only 2% of the sales were on Switch. People aren't stupid, EA. Stop insulting your customers with lazy reskins

Maybe ea expects you not to buy fifa yearly but once a generation. In that case if you don't own a fifa yet on switch then this is a good game. They're at least honest about it so I'm ok with it.

2% is still a lot of sales for a game like that which sells bucket loads. They have been truly been insulting with the Switch releases post 2018

I do wonder if these Legacy Editions are a kind of calculated decision by EA. Where they're making them cheap enough that they get any easy profit but so undesirable compared to the actual release that they couldn't possibly eat into their main userbase.

@sixrings Which game is that?

@AcridSkull pikman 3. Ea on the other hand is remastering need for speed hot pursuit at 1080p with a nice discount. Shame on nintendo and bravo EA. Well done.

The 2% that did not realize FIFA 21 is not on Switch.

Loving SW Squadrons with friends online.

@sixrings what's any of this got to do with FIFA?

@Not-Geno To be fair they never promote switch copys on ps4/xbox, then complain when it doesn't sell.

@Agramonte wait that 2% bought what then if fifa 2021 isn't on switch?

FIFA bad footsim on all platforms... But for Switch they did more... Epic bad game

Trash game from a trash company

2% is still to much i feel sorry for everyone who bought it. EA have ripped off these switch owners and its a total disgrace. I've not played fifa since 18 because the lack of ultimate team updates/game modes compared to other versions is very lazy. Lets hope this is the last FIFA on switch.

Fifa ain’t been good for a long time same dry boring game , so many better arcade football games about that

@sixrings you never give up do you. IMAGINE defending EA ***** on football fans while you drag Nintendo for bringing a beloved franchise to a wider audience.

For all of the many, many faults 3D all-stars has, I'd much rather see it in number one than FIFA 21.

EA are actually putting as much effort into FIFA 21 as Nintendo are doing with the Switch in general honestly.
Differences is, EA are more transparent about it.
As nasty as FIFA 21 on Switch might be, It's no more or less lazy than 99% of Nintendo's own products in the last 3 years
At least they're not hiding it under the guise of caring about their customers, they openly don't give a damn, and I respect that

@sixrings Pikmin 3 Deluxe is the Wii U port with the most additional content out of all of them. The graphical settings are not as important as you think and by the way a tactical game like Pikmin doesn't need 60fps, it's not a fastpaced action game. Nintendo is putting a lot of effort into Pikmin 3 Deluxe with these tons of new content incuding story content, which alone warrant a repurchase, anyway most people didn't have a Wii U and coulnd't play these games in the first place, but now they can. Who are you to tell me I should be ashamed because I want to play these actually really good Wii U titles for the first time.

@BTB20 we have no idea how big this new content is without the game coming out first. Its nice that you take Nintendo at their word but tropical freeze, captain toad, NSMBUD all point to Nintendo not being so generous with their additional content. Also you mention the frame rate. Ok lets compromise despite all the other ports hitting 60fps and agree that 30fps is "good enough." Why is the resolution docked mode 720p? I wrote shame on anyone for supporting Nintendo with this port simply because others felt it appropriate to shame people who bought this Fifa game. I have no understanding how fans can be so blind to think its appropriate to shame others for liking or being ok with another company and calling said company lazy, while at the same time not recognizing their own companies faults and acting outraged by someone calling their favourite company lazy.

@sixrings Ever get the feeling of deja vu?

I’ve said it before on here, my very first comment in fact...

EA are a garbage company with terrible anti-consumer practices. Ideally I’d have liked 0% of sales to be on Switch, given they’ve admitted it’s almost the exact same game as last year.