Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has spent practically the entirety of the Christmas period at the top of the UK sales charts. Activision may have needed to slash the price of its latest first-person shooter as low as £19.99 across the country, but it's done the trick, as the title managed to top the British best sellers list for the week ending 31st December.
To be honest, this is a very boring chart, with little movement elsewhere. All of the usual suspects assumed positions in the Top Ten, with the only real change being the return of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End on the back of discounts and hardware bundles. Naughty Dog's action adventure has to be the best selling PlayStation 4 exclusive by far now.
Speaking of which, The Last Guardian continued to cling on to the Top 40, though we can't imagine it will stick around for much longer. Still, it's not done too badly considering its uber-niche status. Ratchet & Clank's another Sony published project that's done well for itself; it climbed back up the UK charts this week thanks to price cuts and strong word of mouth.
UK Sales Charts: Week Ending 31st December, 2016
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- FIFA 17
- Battlefield 1
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Watch Dogs 2
- Mafia III
- Rocket League
- Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
- Steep
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments 14
Are these for this week only? So GTA V is STILL #4 like 3 years post release?
Personally I am enjoying Infinite Warfare. The campaign was far more enjoyable than last years BO3 and personally I preferred it to TF2's which (apart from one mission) followed the same pattern with a forgettable cast and some poor and repetitive dialogue (not the dialogue between BT and your character). IW at least offered more variety too.
The MP is good and plays well. I appreciate that its not everyones preferred setting and some can't cope with the advanced movement. Compared to BO3 though its very similar and like all CoDs, offer a lot of game modes, customisation etc too. Zombies is also a LOT of fun and well worth playing. On the PS4 Pro, its certainly a great looking game and plays very well too - virtually a locked 60fps - Digital Foundry rate it as one of the best looking (upto) 4k games on the Pro
Overall I think its a lot better than the 'internet' would have you believe. So 'space' may not be everyones first choice setting for a CoD game but it has brought more variety into the game - including the MP Maps too.
Maybe the price cut has helped (didn't really help Titanfall2) or maybe people are actually trying it for themselves and actually seeing it for what it really is and not what the internet tells us it is. For that money too you get a lot of content...
@Mega-Gazz For the week ending 31st December, yes. GTA5 is an absolute juggernaut.
@BAMozzy I like Infinite Warfare, too. You're not alone. I think people are just burned out on the franchise a bit.
@get2sammyb Because it says Call of Duty on the Box? Because every year Activision release a game that 'works' on day1 and comes with a lot of content - more than most/all other FPS games? I could understand on Last gen when their was a little variation between the two studios and each game had very similar game-play - all the way up to Ghosts. Since then though, you can't exactly say its the 'same game, different year' that used to be levelled at the franchise and a more understandable . You don't get people complaining about 'Fifa' or 'PES' with their annual releases - some years you get multiple Fifa releases (world/european cup editions). I know IW is a lot closer to BO3 in terms of game-play than BO3 was to AW but the setting I think, brings a new twist, more variation in Maps - at least visually and the way bodies float off on the 'space station' map is cool too.
To me it seems more a case of supporting the underdog and hating the on the most popular and biggest. To me 'Call of Duty' is just a 'franchise heading' and whilst all games under that heading have a lot of commonality, they do differ by studio developer and each offers a lot of content for the money. CoD is like the 'summer blockbuster' that is often enjoyable, worth the entry fee and very dependable in what it offers. Its not likely to win a game of the Year award but it does what it says on the box and from day 1 too. Its a game I know that I will get 100's of hours worth from and probably be the best value for money in terms of cost per hour. Its not usually the 'best' looking game (although its a lot better visually than a lot of games), has good sound design, plays very well with generally no performance issues and is a solid and reliable game in the genre.
I am interested to see what Sledgehammer do to follow up on AW which I thought was one of the worst games in the franchise in recent years (the movement affected the flow and took away from the gun play too but I must commend them for trying something new) and will probably buy it as well but Ithat doesn't mean it would be my most anticipated or favourite game of 2017. I have Doom, TF2 and MWr (as well as BO3, Ghosts, AW, BF4, TF, Destiny, Killzone etc) and IW is the MP I want to play at the moment the most.
@BAMozzy I think it's the futuristic setting personally. They did one too many, and even though I like Infinite Warfare, the market's probably tired of that format now.
4.Grand Theft Auto V - Noooooo its back. Go away GTA.
@BAMozzy "You don't get people complaining about 'Fifa' or 'PES' with their annual releases"
Yes you do.
Bam you do realise you don't have to defend infinite warfare, its done well sales wise. The fact a Cod game hogs the top spot most of the year actually really pisses me off, so what if it plays well and has the best mp of any other shooter? What about new franchises, new games, new IPs, new ideas? That's why its a running cliche, just like every fifa and every assasins creed. Its got to a point where the games chart doesn't matter - its fricking cod, fifa, gta, Minecraft and occasionally a random Ubisoft or headline exclusive game that comes out on top. Its pathetic that's why we all look at the chart shake our heads and go and play something that isn't in the charts. Games like music and films charts have now been made redundant as a barometer of quality. Other than steep that top 10 is shocking, they've either been out for ages or are regurgitated tripe.
@themcnoisy Just because you don't like a franchise or that it hogs the top spot for months on end, doesn't make bad, doesn't mean it lacks creativity or new ideas - its those 'new' ideas that seem to be part of the issue with CoD in recent years and the direction that some want it to go. It tries to move forward, tries to change things a bit and yet when they do, people want them to go backwards.
Its up to other developers to come up with something that can knock it off its perch. Its not Cod or Fifa's fault that other developers aren't delivering something new or fresh to replace it. If they do and it becomes popular, will you end up hating that too?
It may not be a 'barometer' of quality but how often do you hear that CoD is a buggy mess? How often do you hear that CoDs MP doesn't run at 60fps but more like 45fps (yes I am talking about BF) Quality I guess depends on your perspective but very few games can match CoD in terms of performance and content and the visuals improve year on year. Game play, regardless of what you think about the genre, is also very consistent and delivers what you expect it to. Its all very well making a arty game or creating something unique but if its a buggy mess or can't hold a consistent frame rate, i'd argue that in terms of quality its sadly lacking.
Personally I don't like Fifa or football games in general and think that changes far less every year (just player names and teams to reflect the current leagues and squads) with a few minor tweaks to the game-play.
Yes I like CoD but that's because its one of, if not the best, arcade style FPS games available. Until something comes out that's better, then it will be my preferred go to in this genre. Its not like I don't buy other's in this genre to compare and contrast either. Yes it maybe 'boring' to see it at the top of the charts for week after week after week but that doesn't mean it deserves to be hated or should quit/take a break etc.
I guess you ought to sell your PS4 and buy a WiiU as the PS4 sits at the top of the best selling consoles month after month and no doubt will for all/most of 2017. Won't that be boring too?
Sad final fantasy xv has dropped out already. That deserves to have stayed in the top ten for a while longer.
Paid £80 for this on PSN and still haven't tried it. Truthfully I cant bear to try it. Ever. Only got for CODMW (even that p*ssed me off with the changes made since release.)
@BAMozzy "Just because you don't like a franchise or that it hogs the top spot for months on end, doesn't make bad."
I like call of duty. I completed advanced warfare on veteran and so to with MW 1-3 back last gen. But mate, its THE SAME GAME EVERY YEAR WITH A MINOR RESKIN. Sure it plays well, it always has. But it always always number 1 regardless if its loved or not.
"Its not Cod or Fifa's fault that other developers aren't delivering something new or fresh to replace it."
Well that's not true on any level. EA have snapped up all the rights bar south America footy and the champions league. So FIFA is the only more or less fully licensed football game, that is EAs fault. I cant blame consumers here but what would you rather play as Liverpool at Anfield coming out to you never walk alone or Merseyside Red playing at Merseyside stadium coming out to generic techno? That's the choice you have as a Liverpool fan - there isn't one. Same as their monopoly on NFL and NHL. Hopefully a Chinese developed footy game comes in and absolutely annihilates FIFA in the next few years.
"as the PS4 sits at the top of the best selling consoles month after month and no doubt will for all/most of 2017. Won't that be boring too?"
Yes it would and the industry would probably stagnate with the lack of any meaningful competition that a few million on marketing couldn't fix. Just like what's happening with the software.
"Its up to other developers to come up with something that can knock it off its perch."
As I mentioned I like Cod, MW2 is in my favourite ten games last gen. But the franchise to most gamers is stale, nightmare on elm street got stale, who wants to be a millionaire got stale, even the Simpsons got stale. Cod isn't immune.
@BAMozzy Thats not so hard BO3 has a terrible storymode i did not even finish it.
@themcnoisy Its certainly not the same game every year with a minor reskin. The approach to campaign is very different for a start and whilst the MP may have a lot of common traits between each game, their are often a number of differences inc 'feel' too. If it was the 'Same' game, why are so many wanting the series to go back to the 'last' gen style? Its hardly 'stale' either as for a lot of gamers (as proved by the constant best seller), its still worth buying.
Fifa may have the licences but if it didn't have the 'game-play' to go with it, it wouldn't sell. PES may well not have all the teams (I believe it has LFC though due to a partnership) but these are the only 2 I can think of competing in that market. It's obviously not got 'stale' for those that enjoy football games. CoD doesn't have licensing though and any developer is 'free' to make a FPS game to challenge CoD. You don't buy CoD (or other FPS) because it has a Smith and Wesson, Colt or Beretta licences.
CoD though has a LOT more competition. Whilst it may be 'boring' to see them constantly at the top of the charts, it also shows that the franchise as a whole as become stale for the majority of FPS fans. This year, BF1 and TF2 released before CoD - BF1 bringing back historical shooters and TF2 offering the fast paced, arcade style shooter with Advanced Movement. If people were 'bored' of CoD, either of these could have been a replacement - depending on whether you were more a fan of historical setting with Boots on the Ground or prefer the more futuristic and fast paced arcade style but both of these combined didn't sell as much as CoD managed in its opening week and despite releasing quite late in the year, actually became the best selling release of 2016. It also constantly releases with a lot of content - more than any other game in the genre. Just because CoD sits at the top of the sales chart, doesn't make it a bad game either - I know it doesn't make it the 'best' game of the year (I have always said these aren't GotY games) but they are solid, well made and deliver what you expect from Day1. Also well supported too.
Like I said, its up to other developers, publishers to bring out something that can depose it. MS are bringing out the Scorpio this year to try and dethrone Sony as the best selling console. Every year though we do get a lot of games - particularly FPS with MP games and since CoD4, the biggest selling has been Activisions franchise. Sales may well be lower and maybe we won't see another CoD sell as many copies as MW2.
I don't think the Simpsons are stale at all - I still enjoy watching them and they have been renewed for another season! I still listen to bands I listened to 30+ years ago - Iron Maiden, Metallica etc...
@Flaming_Kaiser BO3's story wasn't great. I admit I didn't bother finishing it either. I actually enjoyed Ghosts and Advanced Warfares campaigns but lost interest in Treyarchs last two campaigns long before reaching the end. Infinite Warfares campaign though I enjoyed and collected every campaign related trophy - the only outstanding ones I have now are for the Zombie mode which is also a lot of fun.
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