UK physical chart data is now in for the week ending 20th March, revealing that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has clawed its way back to number one.
Nintendo's record-breaking life sim turned one year old on Saturday, with a renewed social media buzz and shiny new content likely doing its part to woo new players. It overtakes Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury to earn that number one spot, which were placed first and second respectively last week.
Elsewhere, indie smash hit Hades has had a phenomenal debut week in the UK, with its Switch-only physical release going seventh in the all-formats chart. It sold more copies than the likes of Minecraft and Super Mario 3D All-Stars this week to earn that success.
Here's a look at this week's top ten all formats chart:
Last Week | This Week | Title |
---|---|---|
3 | 1 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
2 | 2 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury |
1 | 3 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales |
4 | 4 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
7 | 5 | Grand Theft Auto V |
6 | 6 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War |
- | 7 | Hades |
5 | 8 | Minecraft (Switch) |
9 | 9 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars |
16 | 10 | Minecraft Dungeons |
[Compiled by GFK]
Did you buy any of these chart-topping games this week? Let us know down below.
Comments 32
Just wanted to point out that FIFA is not in the top 10 for the UK charts. Never thought I would see that
Animal Crossing is a beast.
Great chart position for an amazing game, still playing every day.
Got Hades this weekend, it's a very fun game so far. Been dying a lot though... 😋
Glad it got a retail release and not a limited run kind of thing.
@Quarth Agreed. There are far too many limited edition releases and with many of them being Limited Run or similar it's just impossible or far too expensive to get a physical copy of some of these games. Good to see another indie hit getting a widely available physical release. Top 10 debut is a great result
@ShadowLFC I think that's the real news here! I wonder what kind of mad panic is happening at EA right now?
I cannot help but feel weird about that list. But I can't really say why, so I'm not going to make it seem like I know, thus spreading potential misinformation.
Anyway, I'm playing Hotline Hong Kong / Top-down Stranglehold now, or as its title says: The Hong Kong Massacre.
Which makes me want to play Max Payne on the GBA again, which I already finished on the hardest difficulty several times in the past and keep enjoying. So maybe I'm the weird one.
@Shambo
You have my curiosity, what do you find unusual about it as it seems pretty standard to me?
@ShadowLFC Definitely weird to see that. Can't remember when that last happened to be honest. Just had a look at the top 40 list, and it is 13 this week.
Hades at 7 is not bad for a physical release of a game that came out a few months ago.
@ShadowLFC
Third week in a row Fifa hasn't been in the top 10.
Wow, good for Hades. I wonder why Animal Crossing has suddenly gone back to number 1 this week in particular?
I wonder where Crash Bandicoot would've charted had it had a physical release. As an aside, it's weird that it isn't listed in the "Download Only" charts on the Switch eShop when it's literally a download only game here at the moment. The eShop seems to think it has a physical. What a messy release.
I'm surprised Hades did relatively well considering there can't have been too many people holding out for physical.
This is great news for Animal Crossing!
After a year of playing, I am excited to see that it is still on the charts. I believe Animal Crossing has been a 2nd tier Nintendo game, so this success surely means that the franchise will continue.
In fact, with its phenomenal success, perhaps we will now start reading things in mainstream media like "Nintendo, with its Mario, Zelda and Animal Crossing titles . . . "
Welcome to Animal Crossing. You’ll never leave.
In the meantime, the number of GTA V copies in the UK exceeded the number of inhabitants, as it is with mobile phones.
@Clyde_Radcliffe Good question, I think ACNH went back to number one because of the media acknowledging the one year anniversary of the pandemic lockdown. And, as part of that coverage, there was also references to ACNH. Moreover the game itself having a one year anniversary created some game media coverage. That's my take.
@Clyde_Radcliffe @dugan
Animal Crossing actually dropped sales by 7% this week. It is just all the other games dropped by higher percentages.
So it looks like Animal Crossing is number 1 because it is such a consistent seller.
Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-22-hades-launches-at-no-7-as-animal-crossing-reclaims-top-spot-uk-boxed-charts
No Fifa in the top ten is weird. Still GTA V tho - who hasn't got that by now?
Hades at 7 is really good! Helps that Nintendo are distributing it i guess.
Excellent retail launch for Hades.
This is the first week in a while Ring Fit wasn’t there.
@TheFullAndy Ah, thanks, that makes sense.
@LillianC14 I didn't know Nintendo was distributing it! Interesting.
Well done Hades, glad it's selling well.
@Clyde_Radcliffe they aren't making it obvious, you have to look at the small text on the back.
GTAV....Minecraft....I swear there's something wrong with these charts.
Then again the charts are unequivocally useless without digital sales. Useful if you're a retailer placing orders, but not really useful for any other purpose.
@TheFullAndy Maybe just how... predictable it is. How there's nothing special about it, except for maybe Hades a little bit. Maybe it's kind of a "deja vu" feeling, and how GTA5 and COD keep on selling... Maybe that I'm discovering quite a few good games now and then that never make these lists, but a lot on the list means very little to me (not that I don't know them, or don't think of them as good games). Maybe it's just like the comment above this one, that it feels as if something is wrong.
But beyond that probable reasoning, I share your curiosity as to what is the actual reason.
Nice to see Plants coz zombies back in the chart must be from the switch version. Loving the game they’ve done a decent job on the port to be fair and it’s easy to find a online match.
@TheFullAndy that makes sense, thanks for the info!
@Shambo
I do find it odd people mention COD and GTA V always being there as strange but don't say the same about Mario Kart 8 or Animal Crossing or Minecraft Switch, all of which are now over a year old some near 4 years old. This happens every week and again in the comments today.
My only take away from it is that people think it is OK if it is a game they like that has been in the top 10 for an abnormally long time but when it is a game they are not fond of, such as GTA or COD, then it is strange.
I think it just shows people's unconcious bias.
Edit: Also the start of the year is quiet for big new releases so the chart will just be the evergreen sellers swapping order depending on stock/sale prices until there is an increase in new releases.
@TheFullAndy fact is, Minecraft, Animal Crossing,... these also mean nothing much to me. I also didn't get the latest Mario re-release again (I played them on their original release or another re-release, just like GTA V what seems like ages ago).
In the case of Mario here, I can understand because it's a great game on a flopped system in one case, and three classic games spanning a lot of time, and being re-released handheld, yet with a set date to be retired. That combined makes it... understandable I guess. Maybe Mario Kart because it's a popular franchise originally released on the same flopped system (which I got and got the original for), that is now, again, handheld and very easy to play in split screen as anyone who gets a Switch has two controllers for it right out of the box. It's not coming from a point of "I like them and bought them so it should be the entire top 50" or from "everything Nintendo = good, everything else is bad".
Actually, for me personally, none of the games on the list mean a lot - while I do get that they all have their place, and that they're all popular and probably why, maybe just not how everyone who wanted to play GTA V at some point and has the means to purchase it (or a new system even), hasn't yet done so. And mind you, I chose to live in "poverty", the only reason that I can still purchase some games is because I live on such "low standards", well below the poverty line, by choice, that I actually have time AND money to spend. So I do understand that many people can't afford games at the rate they're being pushed out, but those who buy games later at discount prices, used, whatever, are not going to get them on these charts, I'd think.
And yeah, perhaps your edit explains a lot too. Deja vu because there actually isn't anything "new" in terms of blockbusters for the main market to spend their money on.
Ah well, instead of speculating about weird feelings and the market, I'm going to play outside with the dogs for a while, I'm sure that will solve a lot more I wish you a joyful day too.
@Shambo
You too bud!
@TheFullAndy
The game industry is becoming increasingly dominated by a few massively successful games rather than many moderately to decent successful games. It's been trending like that for years as more companies adopt the games-as-a-service business model to keep players playing the same games for longer periods of time rather than many games for shorter periods of time.
@westman98
Yeah that is true too. The charts worldwide are filled with 7 or 8 non movers it seems in their top tens. Even the Japanese weekly charts has the same 7 or 8 non movers in the top 10 each week and most new games are in for a week or two then disappear.
Will find out next week if MH Rise will be an evergreen title or shine brightly for a few weeks then disappear. My money is on the latter certainly in the west.
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