fifa 21 digital

FIFA 21’s Digital Sales Outpace Physical Copies in the UK, a First for the Series

FIFA 21‘s overall sales are not doing too well compared to last year’s early performance on the market. However, publisher Electronic Arts is managing to edge out one win of sorts. The title’s digital sales launch in the UK is the biggest in series history, thus far. Apparently, FIFA 21 is outperforming FIFA 20 in terms of downloads by 31 percent. As a result, the new entry marks the first time a console release of FIFA has had digital sales outpace physical sales in the UK.

This news comes courtesy of Games Sales Data, or GSD, which tracks retail and digital game sales in EMEA territories. As GamesIndustry.biz notes, FIFA 21’s success on digital storefronts nearly offsets the 42 percent decrease in boxed sales. And despite the general sales decline, the latest FIFA managed to debut on top of the UK’s digital charts.

The UK’s top 10 downloads for the week ending in October 10th is as follows:

  1. FIFA 21
  2. Star Wars: Squadrons
  3. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
  4. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  5. Mafia: Definitive Edition
  6. Ghost of Tsushima
  7. Grand Theft Auto V
  8. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
  9. War Hammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3
  10. Far Cry 5

It’s interesting to see Ghost of Tsushima go up a few places on the charts. In the previous week, the Sucker Punch title landed at the number 10 spot. Such a gain is likely due to excitement surrounding the release of Update 1.1, which went live earlier today.

FIFA 21 is out now on the PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One platforms. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are scheduled to arrive later this year, along with a free next-gen upgrade for those who own a current-gen copy of the sports title.

[Source: Games Sales Data via GamesIndustry.biz]

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