God of War stands firm at No.1 for a second week

Kratos’ return continues to impress as God of War holds onto its No.1 position in the UK boxed charts.

The game was again available on Amazon and winter made its presence felt with biting cold and grey skies, meaning the factors that could have contributed to God of War having a disappointing first week abated.

We’re seeing this reflected in a 35 per cent dip in sales week-on-week, which is astounding for a game in its second week, as the drop is usually much more severe, particularly for a single-player game. Word of mouth and positive reviews will have buoyed this, but it’s still an impressive figure.

Underlining this, last week’s No.3, Yakuza 6, saw an 85 per cent drop in sales week-on-week, clinging on to a spot in the top forty at No.39. On the flip side, Far Cry 2 is hanging at No.2, performing well several weeks after launch.

Nintendo’s unusual Labo experiment has made an impact on the chart too: the Labo Variety Pack, containing a variety of games and cardboard bits for you to build your own peripherals, is at No.3, while the altogether more complicated Robot set is at No.20. Sales aren’t strong, but Labo isn’t your usual Triple-A project, and consumers may need a little time to see if Labo is for them. File that one under wait and see, especially as Nintendo start to produce more of the cardboard sets in the near future.

However, it seems the Labo marketing might have provided a Switch-based wind that rises all Switch-related boats, as boxed game sales for the hybrid console have increased 61 per cent week on week, helped by the release of South Park: The Fractured But Whole, but also reflected in sales increased for Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Next week’s big releases, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, is a PC exclusive so likely won’t rock the boat, while Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is launching on Switch.

 Here’s the Top Ten for the week ending on April 28th. (Data courtesy of GfK/Ukie)