80% of the revenue generated by video games in the UK during 2018 was from digital purchases. However, only 25% of that was AAA game purchases, the rest (60% of the total revenue) was from DLC, add on content, and smaller games. The data does not include mobile titles, so it appears the games-as-a-service model is very profitable and won’t be going anywhere soon.
We also have the physical sales figures for the top twenty games in the UK during 2018 with FIFA 19 at the top. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which was released in 2017, sold more copies last year than it did in the year of release, and Spider-Man takes the crown as highest placed exclusive.
You may also be surprised to see Fallout 76 just sneaking in the bottom of the chart, apparently endless streams of negative coverage and poor reviews mean nothing when the game has the price halved within a week of release.
Here is the UKIE/GfK Top 20 best-selling games of 2018:
| Ranking | Title | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 19 | 1,889,401 |
| 2 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1,757,212 |
| 3 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | 1,172,855 |
| 4 | Spider-Man | 676,621 |
| 5 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe | 458,675 |
| 6 | Far Cry 5 | 434,133 |
| 7 | Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy | 430,551 |
| 8 | God of War | 399,395 |
| 9 | Forza Horizon 4 | 392,960 |
| 10 | FIFA 18 | 351,788 |
| 11 | Grand Theft Auto V | 339,805 |
| 12 | Spyro Reignited Trilogy | 333,725 |
| 13 | Battlefield V | 313,100 |
| 14 | Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 305,937 |
| 15 | Super Smash Bros Ultimate | 284,155 |
| 16 | Super Mario Odyssey | 240,710 |
| 17 | Call of Duty: WWII | 230,576 |
| 18 | Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu | 227,767 |
| 19 | Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 226,125 |
| 20 | Fallout 76 | 218,534 |
Source: GI.Biz
JR.
Spider-man doing Amazingly well. Spyro trilogy not too far behind the Crash trilogy either – taking into account the four and a half month release gap (and a lot of moaning about only having one game on the disc).
Also hearing sales of the PS4 are up year over year in the UK, which is incredible considering the PS4 is approaching it’s fifth birthday in November. Best selling console in 2018 & 42% of all physical game sales in the UK. It’s unstoppable.
Expected GTA V to be higher tbh considering it’s been in the top five on the charts for about four years…