Splatoon Franchise Achieves Its First UK Number One Spot

This week, Splatoon 3 takes the top spot in the UK boxed charts, marking a first for the series. The original game, released in 2015 for Wii U, and its 2017 sequel for Nintendo Switch, both peaked at number two. The third game's launch sales are 9% lower than the second title, but this only accounts for physical sales. As Splatoon is a Nintendo game that focuses on online play, its performance might be stronger through the Nintendo eShop. According to GfK boss Dorian Bloch, both Splatoon and Splatoon 2 debuted at number two on the GfK Entertainment All Formats Chart, with Splatoon held off by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Splatoon 2 held off by Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy. Splatoon Wii U had no official hardware bundle at launch, arriving four weeks later, and was released two and a half years after the Wii U introduction, to a small install base of around 400,000 consoles. In contrast, Splatoon 2 on Switch had an official hardware bundle at week one, accounting for 57% of Switch hardware sales and 17% of Splatoon 2 software sales. Although an official Splatoon 3 console was released, it did not come bundled with the game. Bloch notes that Splatoon 3 is the 21st best week one on Switch in terms of games sold, just behind Splatoon 2. Meanwhile, last week's number one, The Last of Us: Part 1, falls to number four after a 66% sales drop in its second week. NBA 2K23 debuts at number six, three places below its predecessor, with physical boxed sales 29% lower than last year. The game's sales were split across platforms, with 56% on PS5, 16% on PS4, 14% on Xbox Series X and S, 9% on Xbox One, and 4% on Nintendo Switch. Further down the charts, Temtem from Humble Games reaches number 21, and Steelrising from Nacon/Maximum Games is at number 29.