New Data Shows Many Games Performing Better in Physical Sales in the UK Last Year

Single player titles are seeemingly performing well with physical sales, although some games are still selling more on the digital front.

The games industry, in general, is slowly transitioning to digital media, with various companies pushing for the same. The UK market, similarly, is becoming increasingly digital- however, it seems like single-player games are continuing to perform well through physical retail channels.

As per a report by GamesIndustry, several of last year’s games such as Far Cry 6, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, which were some of the best-sellers of the year, performed very well, selling more physically than digitally. The only exception to this is Resident Evil Village, which was marginally a little bit more popular on the digital front.

Nintendo games continue to perform well physically, unsurprisingly. Of all the physical copies sold, Switch had a share of 47%. Apart from that, FIFA 22‘s digital sales share was 61%, making it the fastest-growing digital product in the country, whereas the Call of Duty franchise saw the digital share drop year on year, with Call of Duty: Vanguard’s share being 58%.

EA’s F1 2021 in the end takes the bag for the biggest digital sales share for a new release, enjoying a 64% digital sales split.

Below, you can have a look at the 2021 UK sales chart with digital sales split to get an overview of the current market situation.

TitleUnitsDigital Share
FIFA 222,338,77860.8%
Call of Duty: Vanguard975,33958.3%
Grand Theft Auto 5967,24276.9%
FIFA 21602,22462.3%
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe599,881No Data
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War549,49074.3%
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales505,80330.6%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons457,407No Data
Minecraft445,12418.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2395,66978.2%
F1 2021371,47064.1%
Far Cry 6371,02044.7%
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla358,37948.1%
Resident Evil Village331,25254.8%
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury321,010No Data
Battlefield 2042297,46258.6%
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege225,47796.3%
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart210,50718.4%
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond192,576No Data
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy192,57627.4%
activisioncall of duty: Black Ops Cold Warcall of duty: vanguardcapcomEA SportsF1 2021far cry 6fifa 22guardians of the galaxyInsomniac GamesRatchet and Clank: Rift Apartresident evil villageUbisoft