FIFA 18 physical launch sales down 25% from last year

But...

News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief

Updated on Oct. 2, 2017

FIFA 18 scored first place in the UK games chart this week, though its physical launch sales were down by a quarter.

Numbers company Chart-Track recorded retail copy sales as being down 25 per cent during FIFA 18's launch week compared to FIFA 17 a year ago. Should EA be worried? Well, probably not...

First off, FIFA 18 launched on a Friday this year. FIFA 17 arrived on a Tuesday, so had three days longer on sale to rack up numbers.

Then there's the rise of digital copies. Mainstream games like FIFA and COD have tended to buck this trend in the past, but Chart-Track notes the rise in popularity of the POSA (Point Of Sale Activation) cards with digital codes you can now buy in shops.

So, while it is surprising to see a drop, the bigger picture may be healthier than it appears.

PlayStation 4 earned the lion's share of FIFA 18 copies sold (60 per cent, up from 53 per cent last year).

Just three per cent of FIFA 18's total sales did not come from either the PS4 or Xbox One versions - so that'll be the Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch and PS3.

The only other new launch was Danganropna V3: Killing Harmony, which squeaked into the chart in 36th place. The full chart top 10 lies below: