Unsurprisingly, Anthem topped the UK charts last week, which tracks physical game purchases alone.
According to The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), the title sold best on PS4, claiming 54% of purchases. Xbox trailed behind with 40%, while PC had the remaining 6%. That said, Bioware’s latest performed better than Far Cry: New Dawn and Metro Exodus. Anthem is also Bioware’s first No.1 since Mass Effect: Andromeda from around two years ago. That said, as reported by Eurogamer, Andromeda only reached half of Mass Effect 3’s physical launch sales. While digital sales are making up more and more of the sales market, the decrease here is sharper than the rate of increase in digital sales.
Resident Evil 2 still holds the fastest selling physical game of the year, however, with Kingdom Hearts III right behind it, according to Gamesindustry.biz.
Otherwise, here are the Top 10 games regarding physical sales for the week ending February 23rd:
- Anthem
- Far Cry: New Dawn
- FIFA 19
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Metro: Exodus
- Forza Horizon 4
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Aside from Anthem, however, no new games entered the Top 40 this week. That said, FIFA 19 and Forza Horizon 4 moved back into the Top 10 thanks to price promotions. Also, March is bringing in big hits such as Devil May Cry V, The Division 2, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
In our review of Anthem, Sam criticized the game for lacking in Bioware’s usual storytelling prowess and its repetitive mission structure. However, he praised the title's combat for being engaging and fun even after loads of encounters.
Anthem has received all sorts of review scores, and the launch version has suffered from tons of bugs as well. Some of them were fixed during the day one patch, but it remains to be seen if the game will hold players over in the long-term.
Quick Take
I haven't played Anthem myself, but I've heard so much good and bad that I'd really like to check it out for myself. That said, after games like Destiny 2 I'm a little hesitant to try another service game. Hoping for the best for Bioware, however.
