For the first time in eons there’s an almost entirely new UK top five.
Switch exclusive Astral Chain leads the way, becoming Platinum Games’ first UK no.1 in the process. We can’t say we’re surprised – it has been the talk of social media for almost a week now, fuelled by glowing reviews. Switch owners tend to opt for physical over digital, too.
THQ Nordic’s Wreckfest makes #2, which has come as a surprise to some. We had an inkling it would perform well – not only has it gained positive reviews, but racer fans been have been longing for a new Destruction Derby-style racer. Bugbear has something of a dedicated following too, amassed during the days of the original Flatout.
We were expecting to see Control – published by 505 Games – in the top three but it’s forced to settle for #4, elbowed out the way by The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan.
Again, this is a surprise – Control received more press coverage than Man of Medan. Perhaps Supermassive Games has also managed to accumulate a cult following over the years. Until Dawn definitely had its fans. It’s worth noting only 1,500 sales separated no.1 and no.4 this week, however – it was a very close chart.
One other new release managed to break the top 40 – the belated physical release of Collection of Mana on Switch at #22.
The rest of the top ten comprises of familiar faces. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – last week’s surprise chart-topper – is down to #5. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled took #6, down from #3, while Super Mario Maker 2 fell to #7.
Marvel’s Spider-Man crawled back at #8, up from #34. The PS4 exclusive saw a minor price drop last week ahead of the GOTY edition. The ever-popular GTA V sticks around at #9, while Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 sees us out at #10.
To make way for the surge of new releases Red Dead Redemption 2, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat 11, and Super Mario Odyssey departed the top ten. Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution had the roughest week of all, falling from #10 to #40.