God of War and Far Cry 5 Overshadow Nintendo Labo Release in the UK
God of War released in Japan on the same day as Nintendo Labo. Predictably, the Nintendo Switch add-on dominated the Japanese market. God of War managed to seize the #2 best-selling spot for its launch week. While it sold some 46,000 copies, Labo sold over 90,000, with a further 28,000 Robot Kit sales. The same set of events was not repeated with the Nintendo Labo release in the UK, however.
While the Nintendo product sold well, the Labo found its position reversed with that of God of War in Japan. Not only did God of War claim the UK top spot, as it has done consistently since its launch, but the Nintendo Labo lost out on second place to Far Cry 5, despite the game already being out for over a month.
The top ten best-selling games in the UK for the Labo’s launch week were:
- God of War
- Far Cry 5
- Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit
- FIFA 18
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Fallout 4
- Call of Duty WW2
- Super Mario Odyssey
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Grand Theft Auto V
All told, the launch week was likely still a good one for Nintendo. The company had titles at #3, #5, and #8. The Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit managed to claim the #20 spot, but as anticipated, did not perform as well as the Variety Kit.
God of War has already set series records for sales in the UK. As a result, its dominance is no surprise. Far Cry 5’s continued success is not especially surprising either. The game has managed to outsell its predecessor, Far Cry Primal, by over 500% in digital sales. It is impressive, however, that the game has managed to cling to the #2 spot in the UK more than a month after its release.
The Nintendo Labo release in the UK may not have performed as well as in Japan, but that is no surprise. The Japanese market has traditionally favored practical applications to graphics. Moreover, the country is Nintendo’s heartland, with a much larger base of Nintendo Switch owners.