Dead Island 2 Tops the UK Boxed Charts with a Strong Debut

Boxed video game sales in the UK experienced a 6% decline week-over-week, despite the introduction of three new titles. The top-performing new release was Dead Island 2, published by Deep Silver, which secured the number one position on the UK boxed charts. It ranks as the third most successful game launch of the year, following Hogwarts Legacy and Resident Evil 4, with sales roughly half of those achieved by Resident Evil 4 but significantly outperforming Dead Space. A comparison to the original game's performance will be possible once digital data becomes available later in the week. Minecraft Legends took the second spot, with the majority of its physical sales, 76%, coming from the Nintendo Switch. Notably, digital sales data is not included in these figures, and as Minecraft Legends is part of Xbox Game Pass, its overall performance may be higher. The game's sales on PlayStation accounted for 19% of the total, while Xbox accounted for 5%. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp narrowly missed the second position, coming in third. Given the 15-year gap since the last series installment and the challenging market conditions, including the recent postponement due to global events and the impending release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the game's modest sales are not surprising. However, it has found an audience, thanks in part to positive reviews. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe dropped to fourth place with a 13% decline in sales, while FIFA 23 fell to fifth after a 25% drop. Only two games in the Top 40, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, saw an increase in sales, likely due to the end of Easter promotions. The sales boost from the recent Mario movie is also waning, with Super Mario Odyssey and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe experiencing significant declines.