FIFA 20 has become the fastest-selling new release of 2019, outperforming previous record holder Borderlands 3 by some margin. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise – not even the almighty Red Dead Redemption 2 could beat FIFA 19’s launch week sales.
But there’s a slight twist in this tale. Although FIFA 20’s physical sales were down 7% compared to FIFA 19, with the shift to digital to blame, both the Xbox One and Switch versions saw a small sales increase. In other words, the loss in sales comes solely from the PS4 version.
This news comes from GI.biz, who was able to beat Ukie to the punch this week.
There’s an explanation for FIFA 20’s sales turbulence. Firstly, the Switch has had a tremendous year, boosting the user base substantially. Secondly, a bunch of retailers (GAME, Amazon, and Microsoft themselves) bundled FIFA 20 for free with the All-Digital Xbox One S, which also includes Minecraft, Sea of Thieves, and Forza Horizon 3.
The £169.99 bundle has proven so popular, in fact, that all three are back in top ten – Sea of Thieves climbs from #21 to #7, Minecraft: Xbox Edition is back at #9, while Forza Horizon 3 made #10. Together with Gears 5 at #4, this makes it three Microsoft exclusives in the top ten this week. Four, if you consider Minecraft.
As for last week’s other new releases, the well-received Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age on Switch made #11, Code Vein took #13, while The Surge 2 failed to generate much interest, settling for #35. Digital sales may have picked up some of the slack, of course.
Konami’s Contra: Rogue Corps failed to make the chart entirely, meanwhile. Given the poor reviews and negative reception to the recent demo, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Expect a price drop in a matter of weeks.
Just to fill in the gaps in the top ten, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – last week’s no.1 – fell to #2 while Borderlands 3 dropped to #3. Crash Team Racing rose to #5 thanks to a price drop; The Division 2 at #6 continues to enjoy a resurgence due to hardware bundling.
Mario Kart 8: Deluxe sticks around too, dropping from #3 to #8. Sales were up over last week, however.