UK Charts: EA Sports FC 24 Physical Sales Down 30% Compared To FIFA 23

Everyone knows it's the lack of licensing.

It shows how important a brand is, and how people blindly buy something because of the name on the box.

EA really didn't do enough to tell people- especially casual fans, that the name was changing.

EA could of managed it better, they could of put an in game notification into Fifa 23 about the name change.

Also quite staggering that 80% of Mortal Kombat sales are on playstation but something doesn't quite add up, if Xbox has 14% and Switch has 5% then wheres that last 1% of boxed sales going.

@MrGawain Even more so taking into account the hardware bundles. We know that hardware bundle games count towards physical sales even if the game included is digital and there's some big bundle deals going on (e.g. disc PS5 + EA Sports FC 24 for £429.99 where the disc PS5 by itself is £479.99).

E.A. Sports, it's in the game. It's much better than Fifa anyway, a corrupt and sexist organisation.

If this is really down to the name change I’d be surprised. Especially for people who buy it every year it’s not difficult to find out that the name has changed.

Would be interesting to see the digital numbers, people are still upgrading from PS4/Xbox and there are 2 all digital versions of the new machines to move up to.

"Elsewhere, Pikmin 1+2 has taken a bit of a tumble down from number 4 to number 36"

That's quite an understatement.

Interesting, the casual audience that always buys FIFA, have taken a blind turn because they don't know the game has changed its name hahahaha. Also, sales improvement on the Switch version, above all, speaks volumes, even if it's a slight change.

@UltimateOtaku91
PC I guess? If it is just boxed even the number fits, since the vast majority of PC gamers buy digital at this point. Additionally, I don't think that fighting games are particularly huge on the Platform.

Number one on the switch eShop too.

I'm not a fan to be fair but this is the first I've even heard they changed the name.

@UltimateOtaku91 Almost certainly rounded out of the equation. It’s highly unlikely that the game sold EXACTLY 80%, 14%, 5% on each console.

Let’s suppose the three versions sold 80.4214%, 14.1833% and 5.3953%. This adds up to 100% (if I’ve got my sums right), but because the numbers are ugly we round them down to 80%, 14% and 5%. The missing 1% gets lost in the ether.

Interesting seeing FIFA 23 at number 31. Not exactly the top of the charts, but you’ve got to wonder how many people bought it thinking it was this year’s footy game.

Many people in my fam/friends where complaining how bad the quality was compared to the previous. Feels stiff one replied. And sold it the next day.

I can't stand EA and their scummy practices but I think we need to wait for the digital sales before making any assumptions about how EA Sports FC performed overall. It's a title that's becomingly increasingly digital over the past few years.

While it probably doesn't account for the full 30%... I imagine the name change has probably accounted for 10%-15% of the casual fans/parents of children who just blindly pick up a FIFA title every year and are probably still waiting to see FIFA 24 hit shelves when it won't.

For the first time ever I actually bought it digitally and download it so I'm responsible for a very very small part of that percentage.

I normally like to buy games physically so that I can trade them in when I'm finished (or if I don't like it) but once a new FIFA game comes out the old one is pretty much worthless so I thought what the heck, let's just have the convenience of a download for a change

The REAL question is how is Cobra Kai 2 randomly on the bottom of the list?

@NiallMitch14 Really though? This is a £60-70 game they’re looking for, it’s an expensive purchase. If it’s something they want they’ll just google FIFA 24 and immediately be shown EAFC 24, with a Google question right there stating the name has changed. People are dumb but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they don’t just blindly walk into a shop assuming something has been released. How are they even going to know when it’s due to launch without looking it up first

@larryisaman that's why I estimated 10%-15% as a lot of sales probably come from parents buying for their kids and they'll probably have little to no interest in looking it up. They'll just buy when they walk into a store and see it on shelves

Who are these people who are still buying physical copies of mario kart and gtaV? How the hell are they in the top 10? What has happened in these peoples lives that they have now decided to buy these games? And there seems to be quite a few of them. Would be fascinating to see a movie about this

@UltimateOtaku91 That's exactly what I said that they should do on this very site and was mercilessly flamed for daring to suggest it! 😆

I think clearly many parents and casual fans just buy the latest FIFA when they see it on the shelves, and they ignore other football games. I feel EA needs to advertise more to let the casuals know about the name change - including TV adverts for the older generations of parents who still watch it and primarily get their news that way.

However, if they start putting adverts and notices in free updates for the previous game, casual fans will notice this way for free. People may not like the suggestion of adverts in games but realistically sports sims plaster adverts all over the place for realism anyway!

It's definitely valid that the digital preorder bonuses will have eaten into the physical market as well though, in addition to market trends. Presumably every year there is a small decline in physical sales and increase in digital?

@Frobodobo Its people or parents buying a console for the first time. New kids are born every day, grow, and ask for the latest console for their birthday. The top 5 most famous games per console are always evergreen because those are the games the kids will have seen their friends own or talked about in the playground. They are also.often bundled in by retailers or discounted when buying the systems. However when these evergreen games are topping the charts, that is more a sign that there aren't any real significant new games released that week.

You know. Seeing this, I'm actually not sure if I can really blame them for giving Switch owners those legacy editions, if even the name changed variant including all the features manages to only comprise of 9% of all sales.

Of course the UK has never really been overly much into Nintendo though* (not as much as other places anyway), plus it's only the first week of the game's launch, so who knows the Switch version may have longer legs that will be more on par with the other console versions.

*I say this, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just remains to sell strongly and remains in the top 10 even after all these years. Which is actually pretty crazy. And they have about 13 games in the entire top 40. Actually not bad for a region not that much into Nintendo. But then, this is the Switch we're talking about. This machine is a beast.

EA's football has been marketed like crazy so it makes sense to debut as #1 but only time will tell if it persists high on the charts. What disgusts me is that GTA V still manages to outsell TOTK and will probably benefit from the lower non-FIFA sales.

Wait what's the difference between the Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition and GOTY Edition? I thought a GOTY Edition of a game means it's the most complete version.

Mario Kart: HOW

Buying multiplats on the switch always felt like a scam why people do this to themselves.

@Sakaixx Cause buying it on the Switch means you get two versions: a home console version and a handheld version. This is why most 3rd party games on Switch gets delay while the other versions don't as devs had to optimize the game for both dock and handheld mode. It's not as easy as just making a version and let the dock do the work, there's no hardware specs in the dock, only resolution options. If the dev made the game with 900p dock mode and 720p handheld mode then that's what the game will give you.

I am shocked Animal Crossing is still up at 13 after all this time. It has definitely become a console must have and seller for specific people.

@Jack_Goetz 2² down to 6² looks better.

Really doesn't surprise me, who's th3 kind of person who really shells out for this game? The exact kinda guy who doesn't 'follow' games. They really shoulda called it something knock-offy like FEFA or FIIFA lol.

I refuse to support this 1 3rd of a game on cart, especially from such a high calibre publisher. There is no excuse and they like 2k should be shamed for this. Its not like its cheap.
if it was all on cart, it was a maybe, but as it is im waiting for a significant eshop sale..