UK physical PS5 game sales surge again following console restocks

UK physical PlayStation 5 game sales surged again last week, after some retailers made more stock available for the in-demand console.

According to GfK data republished by GI.biz, Spider-Man: Miles Morales rose eight places in the official chart to No.4 with a 264% sales spike. PS5 exclusive Demon’s Souls enjoyed a similar boost, with weekly sales rising 401% to propel the title to No.17.

The boost in PS5 software sales suggests that at least some of last week’s console stock managed to make its way into the hands of regular consumers, despite scalper groups continuing to target restocks for PS5.

UK retailer Game recently told VGC it would cancel any orders it recognised as sending multiple consoles to the same customer, in an attempt to thwart the number of resellers targeting the item.

Overall, 270,000 boxed games were sold in the UK last week, which is up 44% over the week before. GfK’s UK chart does not track digital purchases.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury was comfortably the best-selling boxed title, with sales up almost three times on the Wii U original. However, it should be noted that the Wii U’s install base was tiny compared to Switch and the original game also released on PS4’s launch day.

In terms of physical sales, GI notes that the latest Mario’s UK launch was the third biggest on Nintendo Switch, ahead of the 2D games Super Mario Maker 2 (June 2019) and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe (January 2019), but behind the 3D titles Odyssey (October 2017) and 3D All-Stars (September 2020).

The week’s other new release, Bandai Namco‘s Little Nightmares 2, debuted in the UK box chart at No.7 and sold best on PS4 (43% of sales) followed by Switch (37%), then Xbox One (18%) and PC (2%).

UK boxed games chart (w/o Feb 13)

1. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. FIFA 21
4. Spider-Man: Miles Morales
5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
7. Little Nightmares 2
8. Minecraft (Switch)
9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
10. Ring Fit Adventure

further reading

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Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury review: Inventive, expanded and unmissable

Wii U’s classic is as wonderful as ever, while Bowser provides an entertaining – if less inventive – bonus