Given the Borderlands 3 release, FIFA 20‘s taking the number one spot on the UK’s physical sales charts for the month of September 2019 is only somewhat surprising. The third mainline Borderlands entry did finish out the month at second place, though. FIFA 20’s incredible success is despite having only been on the market for a total of five days when market research company GfK closed its count for September.
Regardless of the latest FIFA’s meteoric success, it still didn’t hit the strides of its predecessor from 2018. According to GamesIndustry.biz, FIFA 20’s physical sales numbers are down seven percent in the UK for the month of September, compared to the sales of FIFA 19 in the same period last year. This could be due in part to digital sales being on the rise, though there currently exists no hard data to support such an assumption.
While Borderlands 3 landed on the sales charts in second place, its physical sales pale in comparison to those for Borderlands 2 in 2012. For its first month on the UK market, Borderlands 2 shifted about 48% more physical copies than Borderlands 3. With a seven-year gap and an almost complete console generation separating the two releases, the rise in digital sales is undoubtedly responsible for this massive shift in physical sales.
The full top five list is as follows:
- FIFA 20
- Borderlands 3
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- Gears 5
- NBA 2K20
Interestingly, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan landed on the top 10 list, coming in at number seven. Another sports title, PES 2020, finished out the month in the number nine slot, while THQ Nordic’s Wreckfest rounded out the list in 10th place. Noticeably, Control from Remedy Games didn’t crack the top 10, but it wasn’t too far off, having closed the month at number 15.
It should be intriguing to see whether UK physical sales for the month of September mirror those of the US, once NPD releases its report.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
