Death Stranding is finally available, and in the wake of its release, has attracted a mostly positive-to-mixed reception from critics and gamers. However, figures suggest that whatever people may think of the game, it has certainly been a commercial success; the game came in at no. 2 in the UK sales charts, behind only Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In fact, the release has been the PS4’s second-biggest launch of 2019.
UK Sales Figures for the Death Stranding Launch
The UK games market is one of the only markets which actually releases detailed sales figures. As such, the weekly UK sales charts are often used to roughly gauge the success (or otherwise) of a game’s commercial performance. As to be expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been dominating the charts for the last three weeks, ever since its release. However, the Death Stranding launch has managed to catapult the game up to #2, displacing Luigi’s Mansion 3 and FIFA 20.
Interestingly, and as noted by GamesIndustry.biz, Death Stranding’s launch was the second-best launch for a PS4 exclusive title this year. The game didn’t manage to exceed the performance of Days Gone, which launched back in April. In fact, it didn’t even come close; while Days Gone received mostly mixed reviews from critics, the game was a commercial success. Death Stranding sold 36% less units than Days Gone did at launch.
It remains to be seen how well Death Stranding will perform in the next few weeks. It’s worth noting that its launch comes at the end of the busy September – November release window, after the launch of several other major titles; Borderlands 3, Modern Warfare, etc. Other factors could also contribute to gamers avoiding purchasing at launch; the practically infamous lack of clarity in its marketing, for example. As such, it’s possible that it could continue to sell well into December, now that reviews are available.