The numbers of out for last week’s sales performances in the United Kingdom, and we see a familiar pattern that seems to re-emerge every year.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is still in the lead, nabbing that first place despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, and particularly bad reviews from gamers world-wide. Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 held a similar position this time of the year. We’re just hoping that this financial success won’t come to the detriment of the series, and that developers Infinity Ward up their game for the next titles of the series.
Next in line are EA’s Fifa2014 and Warner’s Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Battlefield 4 and Assassin’s Creed IV take up the 4th and 5th place, and by now, the pattern should be fairly obvious. Every title in the top 10 is actually a sequel of a popular franchise, and no original entry made a huge impact on the sales list. While some sequels are a definite step up from previous installments (I am referring to GTA 5 here, which is currently the 8th placed), it’s a bit disheartening to see that reboots and remakes stomp out original titles this decisively.
Here is the complete top 20 list, with the last week/ this week position count:
| 1 |  | 1 | CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS | INFINITY WARD | ACTIVISION | ACTIVISION BLIZZARD | ||
| 2 | | 2 | FIFA 14 | EA CANADA | EA SPORTS | ELECTRONIC ARTS | ||
| 6 |  | 3 | LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES | TRAVELLER’S TALES | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | ||
| 3 |  | 4 | BATTLEFIELD 4 | DIGITAL ILLUSIONS | EA GAMES | ELECTRONIC ARTS | ||
| 4 | | 5 | ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG | UBISOFT (MONTREAL) | UBISOFT | UBISOFT | ||
| 7 | | 6 | JUST DANCE 2014 | UBISOFT (FRANCE) | UBISOFT | UBISOFT | ||
| 11 | | 7 | NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS | GHOST GAMES | EA GAMES | ELECTRONIC ARTS | ||
| 5 | | 8 | GRAND THEFT AUTO V | ROCKSTAR NORTH | ROCKSTAR | TAKE 2 | ||
| 14 | | 9 | WWE 2K14 | YUKE’S | 2K SPORTS | TAKE 2 | ||
| 8 | | 10 | GRAN TURISMO 6 | POLYPHONY DIGITAL | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | ||
| 9 | | 11 | KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL | GUERRILLA GAMES | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | ||
| 13 | | 12 | MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION | 4J STUDIOS | MICROSOFT | MICROSOFT | ||
| 12 | | 13 | SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE | VICARIOUS VISIONS | SKYLANDERS | ACTIVISION BLIZZARD | ||
| 10 | | 14 | BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS | WB GAMES MONTREAL | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | ||
| 26 | | 15 | FORZA MOTORSPORT 5 | TURN 10 STUDIOS | MICROSOFT | MICROSOFT | ||
| 15 | | 16 | DISNEY INFINITY | AVALANCHE SOFTWARE | DISNEY INFINITY | DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS | ||
| 21 | | 17 | ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS | ROVIO | ACTIVISION | ACTIVISION BLIZZARD | ||
| 29 | | 18 | DEAD RISING 3 | CAPCOM VANCOUVER | MICROSOFT | MICROSOFT | ||
| 17 | | 19 | FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 | SPORTS INTERACTIVE | SEGA | SEGA | ||
| 16 | | 20 | TOMB RAIDER | CRYSTAL DYNAMICS | SQUARE ENIX | SQUARE ENIX EUROPE |
Source: GFK Chart-Track