Crash Bandicoot tops UK monthly charts, Splatoon 2 settles for No.2

Summer goes by and charts remain the same. For its second month on shelves, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy has taken the top spot in the monthly UK rankings again, with sales only declining 21 per cent in July. This contributed to Activision Blizzard being able keep its top spot in the publishers’ charts in terms of unit sales, with a 19.2 per cent market share.

The firm’s position was also helped by a strong comeback from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which landed No.4 with sales up 52 per cent. Meanwhile,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered finally launched on Xbox One as a standalone boxed title last month and entered the charts at No.45, with PS4 sales also up 117 per cent as the title launched on Sony’s console at the end of June.

However, Activision was beaten by Nintendo in terms of revenue, as Splatoon 2 landed on the Switch last month. The colourful shooter debuted at No.2, allowing Nintendo to score No.1 in the publishers’ rankings in terms of value with a 21.2 per cent market share. Sales for Splatoon 2 were up 4.6 per cent compared to the original Wii U title, which launched back in May 2015. As a consequence, the Switch market share had a notable boost in July, with both Sony and Microsoft suffering the consequences of Nintendo’s console doing so well: PS4 software sales declined 6.5 per cent in value while revenue from Xbox One sales decreased 18.4 per cent.

But the Switch was not the only console that helped Nintendo to sell games last month, as the new Nintendo 2DS XL hit retail on July 28th – one day before GfK closed its report for the month. Miitopia debuted at No.35 but was the only launch title to make it to last month’s Top 50, with Hey! Pikmin not only failing to reach the general charts but also only grabbing No.8 in the Nintendo 3DS rankings.

Meanwhile, Alternative Software’s Rugby League Live 4 debuted at No.39, with sales down 37.8 per cent compared to its predecessor, released in September 2015.

Apart from Crash Bandicoot, June’s debuting titles didn’t perform well in July. Having entered the charts at No.2 in June, Tekken 7 fell to No.26 with a 86 per cent decline in sales, while Arms only managed to get No.27 with sales decreasing 66 per cent.

Overall, sales declined month-on-month but increased year-on-year. Compared to June, units sales were down 26.3 per cent in July, while revenue decreased nearly 28 per cent. But year-on-year, the market was up 18.5 per cent in value and 16.3 per cent in units.

Here’s the UK Top Ten for July (Period:July 2nd to July 29th):

1. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Activision)
2. Splatoon 2 (Nintendo) – NEW
3. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
4. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision)
5. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Square Enix)
6. Overwatch (Blizzard)
7. FIFA 17 (EA)
8. Horizon Zero Dawn (Sony)
9. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo)
10. Forza Horizon 3 (Microsoft)

Ukie Games Charts, compiled by GfK Chart-Track