Far Cry 5 has been making headlines since its release for how well the game has sold. Ubisoft’s latest entry in the open-world action series has appeared to have been a huge success for the series. Not only did the game become the top-selling game for March, but its sales helped to make Ubisoft the best-selling publisher of 2018 thus far.
One particular figure of note, however, is how well the game sold digitally compared to the last Far Cry title. According to SuperData, a games and media interactive intelligence group, Far Cry 5 has already outsold its predecessor by over 500% in digital sales. That title, Far Cry Primal, launched back in 2016 to generally mixed reviews. However, despite the less than stellar reception, the game sold extremely well; it became the best-selling title for its launch month in both the US and the UK. At the time, Ubisoft even commented that the launch had been bigger than they had anticipated.
Far Cry 5, on the other hand, has become the fastest-selling title of the series. Ubisoft’s newest game reportedly sold over five million copies in its first week alone. Despite launching at the end of March, the game dominated its competition to become the month’s best-selling title. While it is not necessarily surprising that it outsold Far Cry Primal, the margin is still shockingly high.
If Far Cry Primal’s sales had matched its fairly average ratings, then Far Cry 5’s sales in comparison might not have been especially impressive. However, its sales did not; the game performed very well. Because of that, the fact that Far Cry 5 outsold the title by over 500% in digital sales is particularly noteworthy. It is worth noting that the the digital marketplace is substantially larger than it was in 2016. As a result, a growth in digital sales was to be expected, but that can only account for so much.