Helldivers 2 Was February’s Best-Selling Game in the UK

No one could have predicted that Helldivers 2 would have taken off the way it did, and we’re continuing to see more evidence of just how well Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony’s co-op shooter has performed since its release last month. In the UK, for instance, it was the best-selling game for the month of February by quite some margin, as per data revealed by the GSD that includes both physical and digital sales (via GamesIndustry). 

Helldivers 2 enjoyed rare sales increases in consecutive weeks (similar to how it’s performing in the US as well), with sales rising 115 percent in its second week, and 21 percent in its third. To give you an idea of how well it’s selling, in total, in its first three weeks, the game’s sales in the UK were just 28 percent short of what Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 managed in the same length of time upon its launch last October. The shooter has seen a fairly even split in sales across platforms as well, with 57 percent of sales coming on PS5, and 43 percent on PC. 

Other new live service titles launching in February didn’t see similar success, however. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League entered the monthly charts at No. 4, but in its first four weeks, its sales are 20 percent lower than the first-month sales of fellow superhero titles Gotham Knights and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, neither of which set the sales charts on fire, to say the least. WB Games recently confirmed that Suicide Squad’s sales had fallen below expectations. 

Meanwhile, Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones comes in at No. 8, but sales in its first two weeks are 75 percent lower than what fellow multiplayer pirate title Sea of Thieves managed in the region when it released back in 2018. Ubisoft recently said Skull and Bones was seeing record engagement numbers, but reports have suggested that in spite of those numbers, its total player base is underwhelmingly small.

Beyond that, other new titles figure in the charts as well, with Persona 3 Reload coming in at No. 10, Mario vs. Donkey Kong at No. 16, and Pacific Drive at No. 18. 

On the hardware side of things, the PS5 was comfortably the UK’s best-selling console of the month, but its sales are down 2 percent from January, and 28 percent from what it managed a year ago in February of 2022. Nintendo Switch followed behind in second place, with Xbox Series X/S bringing up the rear. Both saw significant year-on-year dips in sales. 

UK GSD February 2024 Top 10 (Digital and Physical):