Far Cry New Dawn launched last Friday, on the 15th of February. Now, we have the first launch week retail chart, available thanks to the UK’s weekly retail tracking. Although the game launched at #1 in its launch week, the actual Far Cry New Dawn sales tell a different story. The game has thus far performed poorly, with sales far below even those of Far Cry Primal in its own launch week.
Retail Far Cry New Dawn Sales in its Launch Week are Down from Far Cry Primal
Far Cry New Dawn hasn’t yet been out for a full week; as such, it’s possible that the game’s sales could see a later increase. Similarly, it’s possible that the game has performed better outside of the UK. However, the current figures (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz) certainly don’t look promising for the latest Far Cry instalment. As a spin-off title launching with less-than-full retail price (due to the game’s smaller size); sales were always expected to be lower than a core instalment. However, the game’s sales are currently 86.5% lower than those of Far Cry 5 in its own launch week. Even worse, the last Far Cry spin-off, Far Cry Primal, sold almost four times as many copies in its launch week in 2016.
The majority of the game’s retail sales (some 60%) were on PS4. Xbox One sales made up 39% of the rest. Note that digital sales are not tracked, only physical retail sales. (Hence why PC sales barely factor in.) Given that digital sales have slowly grown proportionally compared to retail sales, a drop compared to previous titles wouldn’t have been a surprise. However, this is a much sharper drop. It’s highly unlikely that the game has enjoyed digital sales by such an enormously increased margin.
Although the game’s sales performance wasn’t strong, Far Cry New Dawn still managed to take the #1 best-selling spot for its launch week. However, it only barely outsold Metro Exodus, by less than 2,000 units. That game, by comparison, is enjoying enormous success, with sales up over 50% from the last Metro game. Prior to release, a senior figure at Deep Silver said that they were prepared to compete with Far Cry New Dawn. It certainly seems as though he was right.