Metroid Dread enjoys the series’ biggest ever launch in the UK

Metroid Dread has enjoyed a strong debut in the UK, the latest box game sales chart has indicated.

That’s according to the latest GfK sales data, which was seen early by GamesIndustry.biz journalist Christopher Dring.

According to Dring, even without including digital downloads, Dread is the biggest launch for the franchise in UK chart history, beating Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on Wii “by a good margin”.

[UPDATE: GfK has since said Dread was actually just short (less than 1,000 units) of the series’ best launch when considering only boxed sales. With digital included, however, it will certainly have set the record.]

Dread has sold three and a half times more copies at launch than the last 2D Metroid Game: Metroid: Samus Returns, which launched on 3DS in 2017, it’s claimed.

“Metroid is a smaller franchise for Nintendo,” Dring wrote. “It is the fifth biggest Switch launch of the year, behind Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Monster Hunter Rise and New Pokemon Snap.”

Despite the strong debut, Metroid Dread is number three in this week’s UK boxed chart, behind FIFA 22 and Far Cry 6, both of which are available on multiple platforms.

Nintendo does not share digital sales data for its games. However, at the time of publishing Metroid Dread is number one on the eShop in multiple regions.

Despite its cult status among Nintendo fans, the Metroid series has historically struggled to match the sales numbers of the company’s other franchises. To date, 2002’s Metroid Prime remains the series’ best seller at just under 3 million sales.

The previous best-selling Metroid game appears to be the original on the NES, which was released in 1986.

Dread’s strong critical reception combined with Switch’s large playerbase could in theory give it a chance to break the series’ long held sales record. However, Prime 3’s release on the similarly popular Wii didn’t result in such a success.

In VGC’s Metroid Dread review, we wrote: “With a near-perfect balance of nods to the past and fresh ideas, Metroid Dread brings cinematic flair, fast-paced action and a surprising story to the side-scrolling classic. This is the comeback fans have been waiting for.”