Very little has occurred within this week’s UK retail (physical) chart, right down to a top four that remains unchanged.
This means EA Sports FC 26 is no.1, followed by Mario Kart World, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Then at #5 it’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – meaning two Mario Kart games are in the top five this week.
Minecraft dropped to #6, Battlefield 6 rose to #7, Donkey Kong Banaza fell to #8, Nintendo Switch Sports re-entered the top ten at #9, and then at #10 it’s GTA V – up from #15. Seeing Nintendo Switch Sports make a comeback is a mild surprise.
A few other games have benefitted from a sales boost over the festive period, including F1 25 at #16 (up from #25), Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition at #19 (was #28), and Elden Ring up eighteen places to #20.
Gears of War: Reloaded, Mortal Kombat 1, and Little Nightmares III all managed to re-enter within the lower end of the chart, perhaps due to minor discounts.
In the single format charts, Elden Rings tops the PC retail chart, EA Sports FC 26 takes no.1 on Switch, PS5, PS4 and Xbox Series, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is no.1 on Xbox One.
NiS America’s Stella Glow is the one and only game in the 3DS chart this week, making it no.1 by default.
We may not see a new release within the top 40 until The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon launches on 15th January. In fact, the whole of January is looking dry for retail releases, with only Code Vein II and the Switch 2’s Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade having sales potential.