God of War Ragnarok’s launch was bigger than Call of Duty, Elden Ring, and Pokémon| UK charts

God of War Ragnarok is the second biggest game to launch in the UK this year, after FIFA 23.

This means that the PlayStation game sold more boxed copies in its first week than The Elden Ring, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the previous runner-up: Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

This is purely physical sales, and since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was such a significant title to download, it’s very likely that God of War wasn’t #2 overall (we’ll get the download data later in the week). But even so, it’s a huge opening week for a Sony title. 82% of first week sales were on PS5, with 18% on PS4.

As revealed by charting company GfK last week, Ragnarok sold more on its first day than any previous game in the series sold in its first week. According to the data company, the game sold 51% more in its first week than the previous best-selling game: God of War 2018. In just one week, the game has already become the third best-selling God of War game of all time (and in terms of revenue, it’s already No. 2).

12% of PS5 God of War Ragnarok sales come from the official PS5 bundle. This bundle represents 60% of all PS5 consoles sold during the week, officially the biggest week for PS5 sales this year, says GfK President Dorian Bloch.

That means Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s two-week stay at the top of the charts comes to an end. Activision Blizzard’s title fell to No. 2 after a slight 39% drop in sales week over week.

The second biggest new game this month is Sonic Frontiers at number four. The Sega game sold 5% more copies in its first week than 2017’s Sonic Forces did, though it’s possible that the digital game will extend that a bit. 40% of boxed sales were on PS5, 34% on Nintendo Switch, 14% on Xbox, and 12% on PS4.

Next up, Football Manager 2023 ranks 11th, with sales of the boxed version down 18% from last year’s title (as a PC version, most of the game’s sales will be digital).

The PS4 version of Stray actually launched, sending that game back up the charts at #23, while Tactics Ogre: Reborn came in at #24 and Cobrai Kai 2: Dojo’s Rising debuted at #28.

Elsewhere, an increase in PS5 sales meant that Sony’s other big game of the year – Horizon: Forbidden West – jumped to number seven after a 141% increase in sales week over week. We also saw sales of Switch games increase with Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (#5) up 34%, Nintendo Switch Sports (#6) up 19%, Splatoon 3 (#8) up 22%, and Animal Crossing: New York up. Horizons (#9) at 50% and Minecraft on the Switch at 42%.

Here is the GfK UK Boxed top ten list for the week ending November 12th:

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