Batman Arkham Knight outsells The Witcher 3, biggest launch of 2015 so far

Holy sales, Batman! Arkham Knight has beaten The Witcher 3 to become this year’s biggest launch to date.

Bandai Namco’s RPG previously saw the biggest first week of 2015 when it launched back in May, holding onto the chart top spot for three weeks until it was deposed by The Elder Scrolls Online earlier this month, which became the second-largest launch of this year.

But now both have been bested by the Bat, as Arkham Knight flew to Number One, knocking fellow Warner Bros title LEGO Jurassic World down to second place.

Arkham Knight also set a series record, seeing the best-selling Week One performance for Rocksteady’s Arkham franchise. The record was previously held by Rocksteady’s preceding Batman game, 2011’s Arkham City. (2013’s Batman Arkham Origins was developed by a different studio and isn’t considered to be part of the main series.)

Arkham Knight closes a massively successful first half of 2015 for Warner, with the publisher claiming four chart-topping releases – Dying Light, Mortal Kombat X, LEGO Jurasic World and Arkham Knight.

This triumph makes it the first publisher to achieve at least four Number One placements in the first half of the year since 2012, where EA ruled the rankings with FIFA 12, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, SSX, Mass Effect 3 and FIFA Street.

Elsewhere in the final chart for the first half of 2015, Wii U release Yoshi’s Woolly World landed in fourth in its first week and Final Fantasy XIV expansion Heavensward snuck into the bottom of the Top Ten.

The last new entry this week was Bandai Namco’s J-Stars Victory, which came in at a respectable 18th place.

Here is the full UK retail Top Ten for the week ending June 27th, courtesy of GfK Chart-Track and UKIE:

1. Batman Arkham Knight (Warner Bros)
2. LEGO Jurassic World (Warner Bros)
3. The Elder Scrolls Online (Bethesda)
4. Yoshi’s Woolly World (Nintendo)
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Bandai Namco)
6. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
7. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision)
8. FIFA 15 (EA)
9. Destiny (Activision)
10. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (Square Enix)