Tekken 8 launched last week on the back of plenty of excitement and widespread critical acclaim, and the fighter’s sales seem to be reflecting its critical success. In the UK, at least, the game has got off to a remarkably better start than another recent major fighting release.
As per GamesIndustry’s Christopher Dring on Twitter, in the UK, Tekken 8 sold twice as many physical copies at launch than Street Fighter 6 did upon its release last June. Capcom’s fighter was also available on PS4, while Bandai Namco launched its game as a current-gen exclusive. Of course, how close the two games’ launch sales are in the region when digital is also taken into account is the pertinent question here, but if the physical sales are anything to go by, it might be a noticeable gulf.
Upon release, Tekken 8 also saw a peak of nearly 50,000 concurrent players on Steam, which is well over twice as much as what Tekken 7 managed in its lifetime. Prior to release, series director and producer Katsuhiro Harada also revealed that the game’s demo had resulted in boosted pre-order numbers.
In our review of Tekken 8, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Tekken 8 is a shot in the arm for the series, advancing the story while offering addictive combat, exceptional presentation and a suite of features to attract new and experienced players.” Read the full review through here.
Tekken 8 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Last year I was surprised at how low Street Fighter 6’s UK sales were at physical retail (it did fine digitally). I wondered if it was a genre trend, but Tekken 8’s UK physical sales are good, and more than double the launch of SF6. So… who knows? Maybe it was the competition
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 29, 2024
