Battlefield V – not the best start for the game

EA’s new Battlefield game has had an unimpressive start in the new UK top 40, as Black Friday casts its shadow over the charts.

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It’s been increasingly difficult to tell what’s going on in terms of UK video game sales this year, as the majority of sequels post massive drops that seem to go far beyond just a natural drift towards digital downloads.

Digital sales are not included in any UK chart but with Battlefield V it’s especially hard to tell what’s going on, even when a glance at the charts suggests that whatever it is it’s not good for EA.



Not only did Battlefield V launch three days before Black Friday, which itself has become a week-long event now, but its bizarre, staggered release date means it’s been available to some customers – who paid extra for the privilege – almost two weeks prior.


All that said, coming in at just number four in the all formats chart is not a good look, especially given the noticeable lack of buzz around the title.

Sales were down more than 63% on 2016’s Battlefield 1, which is well above the average rise in digital sales. Although Battlefield V still managed to perform better than Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Fallout 76 in their first weeks.

It will be a relief when Chart-Track start adding digital sales data next year but in the meantime the rest of this week’s chart is far easier to read.

Thanks to Black Friday, FIFA 19 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 returned to the top of the charts, with both being old enough to receive significant discounts and appear in many of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hardware bundles.

Red Dead Redemption II at number three was one of the least discounted games, but while Fallout 76 was part of Black Friday – despite only having been released the previous week – it still saw sales fall by 51 per cent.

Beyond Battlefield V there were other new releases as well, with Farm Simulator 19 making it to number 16 in the all formats chart; while YouTube and Twitch favourite Bendy And The Ink Machine came in at number 30.

Although Battlefield V is one of the last major releases of the year there are still a number left to go, most obviously Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This week though the only significant launch at retail is toady’s Darksiders III.

UK all formats chart – 24 November 1 (5) FIFA 19 (PS4/XO/NS/360/PS3)

2 (7) Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PS4/XO/PC)

3 (2) Red Dead Redemption II (PS4/XO)

4 (-) Battlefield V (XO/PS4/PC)

5 (11)Forza Horizon 4 (XO/PC)

6 (13)Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)

7 (3) Fallout 76 (PS4/XO/PC)

8 (4) Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! (NS)

9 (1) Spyro Reignited Trilogy (PS4/XO)

10(9) Mario Kart 8 (NS)

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