Gran Turismo 7 retains first place as classic Switch games surge | UK Boxed Charts

gamesindustry.biz:

Christopher Dring

Head of Games B2B

Sunday 20th March 2022

Gran Turismo 7 holds No.1 for a third consecutive week in the UK boxed charts, according to data firm GfK.

The PlayStation racing game had a tough week, including an issue that made it unplayable for over a day and further controversy around the in-game microtransactions. Nevertheless, it continues to sell well at retail and held No.1 despite a 42% drop in sales week-on-week.

It comes in ahead of Elden Ring at No.2, which actually rose a spot despite sales slipping 25% week-on-week. Last week's big new release, WWE 2K22, falls to No.3 after a relatively slight 44% sales drop.

The big shake-up in this week's boxed charts is due to a number of price promotions on major Nintendo Switch games. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond rose 21 places to No.5 after a 564% sales jump, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is up 15 places to No.6 due to a 288% sales rise, and Pokémon Shining Pearl re-enters the Top 40 entirely at No.9.

Also re-entering the charts is Metroid Dread, which is now at No.14. The Nintendo Switch game is now the third biggest selling Metroid game in the franchise's 35-year history, and that is without factoring in digital (this is purely boxed retail sales).

All of this activity does mean that Mario Kart 8: Deluxe takes a rare week outside of the Top Ten, it fell five places to No.11 after a 20% drop in sales week-on-week. The fall in sales is despite the arrival of new Mario Kart DLC this week -- the first expansion for the game in almost five years.

There were some new games in the charts. The highest new entry was Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which landed at No.8. 73% of the game's boxed sales were on PS5, 18% on PS4 and 9% on Xbox.

And Five Nights at