Red Dead Redemption 2 UK sales more than double the first game

Red Dead Redemption 2's opening week physical sales are more than double its 2010 original.

The latest figures, released by UK charts firm GfK, only include boxed physical sales. The digital market has grown significantly over the last eight years, so the actual sales will be even more impressive.

Despite a strong start, the game couldn't topple FIFA 19 as the UK's fastest-selling game of the year. However, it does comfortably beat the first week's sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

68% of the Red Dead Redemption 2's opening week sales came on PS4, with the remainder on Xbox One.

It's a very strong start for Rockstar's Western epic, although it's not a record breaker like its sister series, Grand Theft Auto. GTA V sold two million copies in its first week on sale in the UK (although the game launched on a Tuesday, whereas Red Dead arrived on a Friday). Nobody was expecting Red Dead to match GTA's popularity, so it's worth putting the game into a slightly different context.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is actually the third fastest-selling non-FIFA game released this generation - behind Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. It sold slightly more physical units in its first week than last year's Call of Duty: WWII, and is well ahead of the fastest selling non-Call of Duty game - Fallout 4.

The strong first week for Red Dead has managed to improve the UK retail market. In terms of units sold, the market is still down year-to-date by 3.2 per cent. However, in terms of revenue the market is now up (year-to-date) by 2.8%. It's better news for the physical business, with the Christmas sales period still to come, and other big launches such as Battlefield V, Fallout 76, Pokémon Let's Go, Hitman 2 and Super Smash Bros.

Red Dead wasn't the only new release this week, with a number of niche and kids properties also reaching shelves. Paw Patrol: On a Roll debuted at No17, Nickelodeon Kart Racers arrives at No21, My Hero One's Justice reaches No23, and Just Dance 2019 opens at No.24.

Elsewhere, Forza Horizon 4 rose up a place to No.4 with a 50% sales improvement week-on-week. This was driven by Xbox One retail bundles that also included a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Last week's new releases drop down the charts as a result. LEGO DC Super-Villains falls slightly from No.6 to No.7. SoulCalibur VI falls significantly from No.8 to No.25. Whereas poor Starlink tumbles from No.14 all the way out of the Top 40.

Here is the UKIE/GfK Top 10 for week ending October 27th.