UK Charts: Metroid Prime 4 Debuts Behind Mario Kart World And EA Sports FC 26

BLUEY is on number 35 this week. 😄

Outsold Call of Duty and Pokémon a few weeks before Christmas, without knowing exact numbers I think it's done okay

Great start for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The real challange will be the upcoming weeks, if it will keep selling or relatively soon start dwindling.

Shame about the sales figures for Octopath Traveler 0. The game deserves so much more than a 37th place on the chart.

Not bad at all for a niche franchise

That's very respectable return for a series that doesn't sell in massive numbers and has been advertised pretty much exclusively for a new console with a much smaller userbase.

Should go on to sell a few million and be one of the biggest sellers in the Metroid series.

And that's with barely any (functional) (non-flubbed) real world marketing at all.

Imagine what they could have done with a game we've been waiting 18 years plus for if they'd, y'know, tried.

Interesting to see that the Switch 2 Edition of MP4 accounted for 83% of the sold units.

Obviously, Metroid is more of a hardcore franchise, and many of those hardcore Nintendorians already bought a Switch 2.

Makes sense. Most people will probably wait to get this on Switch 2, which doesn't have the biggest install base yet, and Metroid is more niche than a Mario or Zelda. Pretty good start, it should have decent legs throughout December.

I myself won't get it for a while. Not because of the reviews. I don't care about them, I'd probably like the game anyways. I'd just like to play Metroid Prime 2 and 3 first, which I wish released on Switch 1 by now, but I guess Nintendo is too busy making the long-awaited sequel to Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

5% of Cyberpunk's sales are on the original Switch, impressive!

EDIT: It got fixed!

The writeup says Octopath Traveler 0 sold most on Switch, yet the tabular data says Switch 2 figures were higher?

No chance I’m buying MP4 - I’m too old and busy to play a game that doesn’t respect my time.

Good to see Metroid doing well after Kirby Air Riders missed the top 10 and vanished from the top 40 and wow, 83% of sales are Switch 2 version!

@andykara2003
Doesn't respect your time?

@Suketoudara
Yeah that's really surprising

@andykara2003

But don’t you love collecting green crystals? There are so many of them! Gotta catch ‘em all.

behind Dread on a huge install base is not a good start for a game that has taken over 8 years from initial announcement to release

Proud to be part of the 17% that bought the Switch version. Playing it on my Switch 2 of course, with the upgrade pack (kinda unnecessary to be honest) but wanted the unspoiled artwork.

I'm still uncertain if MP4 in 120fps will cause motion sickness like Prime 1 did. I'd like to play it, but I'm not willing to just throw fifty quid at something that could make me throw up over my controller.

Really hope it sells well enough for Nintendo to green light another. This was likely to have been the most expensive game Nintendo has ever produced (as far as development costs go) so hopefully between sales of the game and amiibos they’ll at least break even. Another crack at it with feedback taken to heart could result in something really spectacular (and surely wouldn’t take so long to make).

Physical sales figures mean less and less, unfortunately.

@andykara2003 if there’s a game and franchise that does respect your time, it’s Metroid. And then Mario.

Playing S2 edition. Was concerned the NPCs would hurt the game but after playing (about half way through atm) I think they actually add to it. I hope the game sells well so we get MP5 on S2. Hopefully within 2-3 years now retro are in the groove🤞 Playing 4K 60 with pro controller 2, even though my TV supports 120 ✌️(LGC5 OLED)

@Friendly Metroid definitely not lol...

One of metroid's biggest criticisms is that it waste your time with unnecessary backtracking, but typically metroid games balance that out with unlocking new fights or areas with your upgrades making you feel god mode going through them again... or adding teleporters late game to make it less egregious.

prime 4 absolutely not cause the areas are linear hallways, samus doesn't get 'stronger' and the desert is not only stupid requiring a 2-3 hour crystal gathering grind to beat the game but genuinely serves no other purpose than to make you take longer to travel between these linear places every time you have to back track to them (and usually its just going far enough down the hallway until a door says you can't go further unlike echoes or prime 1 where some doors are accessible and some aren't you gain new parts of the map to discover, this happens like twice in the entirety of prime 4).

Its an 5-6 hour game at most if the desert was cut out and you didn't get stuck on the puzzles/bosses. No one is going to replay it as much as the trilogy cause of how much nothing you have to do inbetween whats fun (and that's subjective when there's like 2 enemy types most of the game)

And here we go I got my Pokemon z-a switch 2 bundle today and no games lol my girlfriend pick me up for dinner the last minute my ebgames closes in 20 minutes I said u can buy me this game for Christmas Metroid prime 4 Beyond switch 2 edition I have 2 games next fortnight Im buying Mario kart world dk bozana hopefully I asked someone to get me FC 26 switch 2 edition for Christmas that should do me until 007 comes out in March 26 next 2 weeks play the ***** out of my Xbox series X and ps5 after that it's all about Nintendo happy gaming everyone and merry Xmas from Sydney Australia 💚💚💚🕹️🎮🕹️🎮

I think if you count digital, Prime 4 is probably up compared to Dread.

@Araquanid What? No it's not 5-6 hours. Stop trolling. 🤣🤣 And, uh yeah Samus does get stronger.

@KBuckley27 Digital is bigger now, and more people are getting it on the Switch 2.

@Olliemar28 I wonder if 'mixed reviews' impacted the sales figures ?

Octopath Traveler 0 being so low is lame. Game is absolutely awesome.

@Olliemar28 its a huge disappointment not to see A.S: Shadows not even make the top 20 . It certainly deserves to be much higher and the newest game I chose to buy for December . I just hope they fix the issues of crashing

@KingMinosOfKnossos Incoming: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/12/assassins-creed-shadows-update-to-resolve-switch-2-crashes-and-stability-issues

I'm so glad to see Metroid Prime 4 doing so well in my home country! I seriously didn't think it'd debut in the top five at all!

I’m playing and enjoying the game switch 2.
But will be interesting to see next week.
It could drop out the top ten easily.

MKW still doing the business.

I think this is the first week DKB has dropped out the top ten.

@KingMinosOfKnossos Its probably a combo of Metroid Prime not being popular in the UK and the gamecube mega bombing in the UK.

Same with Kirby Air Riders, any game/series mostly leaning on or following up a previous release on Gamecube just isn't going to be as popular in the UK as it is in the US or Japan. It was the same with Metroid Prime 3

It'd be like gauging a Sonic game based on Japanese sales where the character doesn't have much popularity and the Megadrive/Genesis sold poorly. Even a successful game in the west for Sonic probably isn't going to do particularly well in Japan.

@Araquanid Exactly 👍

Thanks as always for the report, but if I'm allowed to bring this up, I noticed that the split breakdown for Outlaws is missing

@KBuckley27 Dread released mid COVID so had the benefit from increased consumer entertainment spending. That not the case now considering everything going on in the world. So if Prime 4 only sold a few less while costing more at a higher price tag…

The odd figure is 83% of Metroid Prime 4 sales is on Switch 2 vs 17% on Switch. Other games, notably Pokemon ZA, has that switched, as would be expected, with many more systems out there. Either Switch 2 owners are lapping up Metroid Prime 4 or Switch owners are rejecting it.

I maintain that the big and real mistake with this game is Nintendo not releasing it early in 2025. The Switch schedule had a massive void, and MP4 would have been an excellent swansong. Now it seems lost, especially with the ridiculous hysteria about companion characters that sabotaged so much of the excitement for it, with not even Nintendo giving it sufficient attention.

I do feel like releasing Metroid 4 so late into the holiday season was an odd move. It’s sandwiched between so many other releases. I wonder why it wasn’t more of a late summer/fall release where it could have had more time to shine. Still, a respectable debut I’d say.

So pleased to see Metroid Prime 4 doing well. Also seems that the majority are really enjoying it, which is great. I understand people have complaints about Metroid 4, but I do find it odd that linearity is one of them. Nearly half the Metroid games are linear and when they first showed NPCs, it kinda became clear this was going to go down the same route as Corruption and be a linear and guided game. Metroid has never been about the Metrovania design, despite the namesake due to 1 and Super, its about the world itself, whether that path is linear or more open. Nintendo showed this straight away with Fusion then Corruption, Other M, Samus Returns following Return of Samus, even Zero Mission became a much linear and guided game, despite being able to be ripped apart for those who want to.

How many times do I have to criticize the UK's taste in video games on a UK based website? I just genuinely feel bad for Nintendo fans in Europe at this point. You guys are surrounded by slop brains.

@Waluigi451 For those extra Christmas sales probably.

@TerribleTerabytes It’s one of Nintendo’s most niche franchises…debuting at 3 isn’t bad at all. Especially considering they’re more than likely counting the bundles for Mario Kart World’s sales so it would probably be number 2 if they were counting pure physical sales.

@TerribleTerabytes
Well, at least UK audiences still have interest with BLUEY, the kids franchise from Australia.

@larryisaman A slop Soccer game being #1 while Kirby Riders missing completely is also quite egregious. Your video game market should be thrown into harbor along with your tea.

(I'm joking btw, I hope that comes across)

@Araquanid backtracking is half the fun of metroid. mp4 isnt much linear than any other metroid

This is an absolutely fantastic result for Metroid! Really hope the momentum continues into next week 🤞

thats the uk charts now we need the western sales charts for prime 4.

I feel critics have been quite harsh on MP4 and it’s a better game in my opinion that many of them would say. Hope it sells well enough that we get future Metroid entries and it doesn’t go the way of wave race, pilotwings, pushmo etc…

Feel sorry for Octopath, but it’s a Game-Key after all. I wonder when publishers are finally going to start realize that it hurts sales.

@Jack_Goetz 👍

@Dr_Lugae Yeah Good call

what's with mkd8.

why is it still there!

Glad to see the Final Fantasy collection crack the top 40. Obviously big sales on it but felt like the initial release was kinda meh (wasnt it kinda limited, plus $70?), glad more people are getting a shot at it

This has been one of my most beloved series ever since the first time I got my hands on Super Metroid as a little kid - I only had about 30 minutes with it, and was absolutely perplexed by it, I'd literally never played a game where you could go left if you chose to. But the vibe of the game got its hooks in me in a strange way, where I'd look at the box in the video store every time I went, but was too intimidated to actually play it until well into the 32-bit era, once I'd gotten accustomed to more open, exploration based gameplay. It's a game I've revisited probably a dozen times, along with the rest of the series (aside from the outliers like Other M, Hunters, and Federation Force which I never played.)

Which is all to say, I've been greatly anticipating Prime 4, but with a great deal of apprehension, based on the troubled development, the tone of early previews/footage, and Nintendo's history of giving the series short shrift. Thankfully, Prime 4 absolutely delivers for me. The vibe is intact. The lack of innovation people complain about is, is a non-issue to me - games like this are scarce as it is, and it's been such a long wait since Corruption, that the familiarity is comforting, like hanging out with a friend you haven't seen in forever, only to find you still have that same easy connection. Even the NPCs don't bother me, and overbearing NPCs that constantly yap and steer you towards the goal have made me tap out on numerous big games (GOW: Ragnarok and Horizon FW, to name a couple.)

tl;dr I've been a Metroid fan for 30-ish years, I am absolutely loving Prime 4, and I hope it achieves the success it deserves.

Solid start for Metroid Prime 4. Expected figures since Nintendo flopped marketing the game. Also not surprised it's mostly Switch-2 leaning, it feels like a next-gen game. I'll also probably buy the S2 version since that's backwards compatible.

@AlexHarford I noticed that as well, so I tried finding the original source of this data, but I can't. Would be nice if Nintendo Life included a link to the original source.

@Olliemar28 Can you clarify whether Octopath Traveler 0 sold more on Switch or Switch 2? The body text of the article contradicts the data in the table.

Also, I'm gonna overanalyze Dring's statement to estimate Dread and MP4's launch week physical sales.

MP4 sold 15% less than Dread.
So:
(MP4's sales) = (Dread's sales) - (Dread's sales) * 0.15

We can re-arrange the expression as follows:
(Dread's sales) * 0.15 = (Dread's sales) - (MP4's sales)

The difference in sales is only a few thousand units.
While "a few" doesn't have a precise definition, a common interpretation is 3 to 4. So let's assume MP4 sold between 3,000 to 4,000 fewer units than Dread.

So:
(Dread's sales) - (MP4's sales) ∈ [3000, 4000]

Substituting 3000 and 4000 in for the difference and solving for Dread's sales results in a range of 20,000 to 26,667 units.

Which would then imply that MP4's sales are roughly in the range of 17,000 to 22,667 units.

Metroid Prime 4 is arround where I expected to chart at the start. Although it is sad that Square Enix is just as incompetent as even when advertising their AA games. I read videogame news websites somewhat frequently and I didn't know that Octopath 0 released already.

@TerribleTerabytes it’s called football

I was a big fan of the OG Metroid Prime Trilogy and I am really enjoying the 4th. There's a ton of places to explore and plenty of weapons to master. All that whining about the human NPC's on your team was massively exaggerated. They're hardly ever with you once you rescue them and get them to basecamp. And even when you do talk to them they're not really annoying IMO. It's actually kinda nice to have a little crew.

@HotGoomba FYI, there is not a single thing in MP4 that ties in to the initial trilogy, so you definitely don't need to play them first.

Not of course, you should play them all at some point anyway, because they're fantastic!

@Joe11 i beg to differ there are things in beyond that ties into the last 3 prime games.

Oh, looks like the article's been updated and confirms that Octopath Traveler 0 did, in fact, sell more on Switch 1 than Switch 2.

It's interesting because MP4 sold a little over 4 times as much on Switch 2 compared to Switch 1, yet OT0 sold around 1.5 times more on Switch 1 compared to Switch 2.

Both games target a pretty niche, hardcore audience, the very same audience that is likely to be early Switch 2 adopters.

So with MP4, it makes sense for the sales to be skewed in favor of Switch 2 (as opposed to a more casual, mass-market game like Pokemon Z-A).

Under normal circumstances, I'd expect OT0 to also sell more on Switch 2, but I think the main reason it didn't is that the niche, hardcore audience generally doesn't like GKCs, so even though many of them do own a Switch 2, they'd rather pick up the real physical version on Switch 1. I know I fall in that camp at least.

The amount of time for taken for what is delivered is a key factor to why idc.

@Wesker Not in FREEDOM Country it ain't!

Seems like Kirby fell off a cliff. I personally didn't like it so not surprised

@ViewtifulCool I think it's cause everywhere tends to bundle Mario Kart 8 with new Switches in the UK

It’s a shame about Octopath. I’ll wait for a Switch 2 physical release. I think some key cards will eventually get them. I still only own two switch 2 games because of this.

@RiasGremory I can't think of a single instance tying the story of 4 to those of 1-3. Aside from the non sequitur cameo in the secret ending of 3. Fwiw, I just hit 100% on my second playthrough of 4.

There's some connection to Hunters and Federation Force via Sylux, but I can't think of anything related to the main trilogy.

UK really favours Japanese gaming. Xbox stats here are extremely low.