Xbox backwards compatibility sends old Call of Duty games back into the Top Five | UK Monthly Charts

gamesindustry.biz:

2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 were two of the best-selling video games in the UK last month.

Both games had their matchmaking fixed on Xbox platforms, and were also discounted in the Xbox Ultimate Game Sale, which sent Modern Warfare 2 to No.5, while Black Ops 2 returns at No.4.

Black Ops 2 was on sale for £11.99 and Modern Warfare 2 could be picked up for £12.49.

Both Xbox and PlayStation ran aggressive digital game sales, which have transformed the chart. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 jumped up to No.2 and No.3 respectively. Both of Rockstar's games were discounted on all Xbox and PlayStation platforms, with the PS4 versions on sale for under £15.

But it was FIFA 23 that was No.1 for the month.

In total, 2.36 million digital and physical AAA video games were sold in the UK during July, up 31% over the year before.

1.66 million games were sold via digital download stores (up 40% year-on-year), while 701,000 were sold via physical outlets (up 12%).

The highest charting game that was actually released in 2023 was Hogwarts Legacy in sixth position.

In terms of new game released in July, the highest charting title is Pikmin 4 at No.23. Nintendo doesn't share digital sales with the charts, so it may be that the game would have charted higher if we knew the download figures. If we just look at physical sales for the month, Pikmin 4 was the fifth best-selling game.

All software data is courtesy of GSD.

Over in hardware, and sales of games consoles in July dropped 7% month-on-month in the UK, according to GfK panel data. However, compared with July 2022, sales are actually up 7%.

PlayStation 5 remains the market leading format, with sales once again driven