Nintendo Switch dominates the top ten as locks increase game sales UK Boxed Charts

The first week in January is a notorious week for video game sales. It’s rare that we’ll see a release of any kind during this window, and of course most gamers are still busy with their Christmas presents.

Yet this is not a normal start to the year, with the UK still wanting a complete exclusion to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. That may explain why more than 260,000 boxing matches were sold in the UK last week, which is a third more than what was achieved at the same time last year.

The main driver of growth was the Nintendo Switch, with games for the console reaching the charts last week. In fact, sales of Switch games increased by more than 123% compared to the same week in 2020. Animal Crossing: New Horizons holds the highest place, although sales decreased by 47% (it is noteworthy that sales during the first week of the year drops completely normal), followed by Mario Kart 8: Deluxe at number 2 (sales drop by 43%). At number 3 is Just Dance 2021, which rises two places despite a 24% sales figure. Just Dance 2021 is of course available on all platforms, but almost 90% of the game’s sales so far have been on Nintendo Switch (physical sales only, digital sales not included).

There are 15 Switch exclusives in the Top 40 this week, including Ring Fit Adventure at number 6 (24% higher), Minecraft at number 7 (sales by 35%) and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe at number 9 (sales drop by 32 %). New Super Mario Bros. have returned to the Top Ten over the past few weeks after a fresh marketing campaign for the game.

It’s all very close, but a 42% drop in sales for Super Mario 3D All-Stars means the collection ends its stay in the Top Ten and drops to No.11.

Otherwise, this is a fairly normal chart, with no new versions to Hitman 3 later in the month. For those who follow the Cyberpunk 2077 story, the CD Projekt game dropped to No.20 after a sales drop of 59%.

Here is the GfK Top Ten for the week ending January 9: