Black Friday Boosts Sea of Thieves, Minecraft Back Onto U.K. Sales Charts

The UK sales charts in the week ending on November 30, 2019 have witnessed the return of many dated titles, like Sea of Thieves and Minecraft for Xbox One, mainly due to Black Friday discounts and bundles.

The UK sales charts in the week ending on November 30, 2019, have witnessed the return of many old games, like Sea of Thieves and Minecraft for Xbox One, mainly due to Black Friday discounts and bundles.

Thanks to Black Friday sales, FIFA 20 returned to the #1 positions in the sales chart, coming from #4, beating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which has been pretty stable since its late October release, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

PS4 and Xbox One had software sales noticeably falling, 37%, and 26.7%, respectively, compared to last year, mainly due to their life cycle reaching an end. Nintendo Switch sold less than both of them but ended with 44% more copies than the previous year (361,967), as reported by GamesIndustry.

The bundles with PS4 and Xbox One helped several of the games in the chart improve their position. FIFA 20 sales rose 226% compared to the previous week, mainly because it is bundled with PlayStation 4, and the same goes for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (+86%). Xbox One bundles had a positive impact on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, too, which increased 32% week-on-week despite losing a position in the chart.

The most impressive result is the Sea of Thieves and Minecraft, reaching the 4th and 5th spots in the sales chart. While Minecraft has always been pretty successful at retail, Rare’s pirates’ simulation has been released in March 2018 and hardly returned to the top ten since then. Now, both the games have seen massive spikes in popularity thanks to the Xbox One S All-Digital Bundle, sold at around £110-140.

Check out the full chart below:

1. FIFA 20 (previously 4)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (1)
3. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2)
4. Sea of Thieves (23)
5. Minecraft: Xbox Edition (24)
6. Pokémon Sword (3)
7. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (7)
8. Pokémon Shield (5)
9. Luigi’s Mansion 3 (6)
10. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (38)

Last week, we reported about the peculiar case of Shenmue III, which has failed to reach the top ten in the UK sales chart. Considering it’s still not among the most popular games in the Black Friday week, this is more bad news for Ys.net and the chances of a sequel.