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The first title in Electronic Arts new football series has launched at No.1 in the UK retail charts.
According to GfK data shared with GamesIndustry.biz, the number of copies EA Sports FC sold in its first week are actually 30% lower than FIFA 23 at launch.
It was expected the rebrand would result in some short-term impact on sales, and it's possible a surge in digital sales may reduce that gap.
Even with the year-on-year decline, EA Sports FC stands as the second biggest retail launch of 2023, bested only by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. With digital, it may well be the highest.
Most formats showed decline when compared with FIFA 23's launch, although sales of the Switch version are up slightly.
Elsewhere, the charts are fairly unremarkable. Last week's No.1, Mortal Kombat, is knocked down to No.2 with an 83% week-on-week drop in sales, with Hogwarts Legacy, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Grand Theft Auto 5 rounding out the Top Five.
Retailer promotions saw two games return to the Top Ten, with The Witcher 3: Complete Edtion at No.10 after a 59% rise in sales, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at No.8 thanks to a whopping 216% boost.
Here is the GfK Boxed Top Ten for this week ending September 30, 2023:
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