Christopher Dring
Head of Games B2B
Sunday 20th December 2020
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It was a close race for Christmas No.1 this year, with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Valhalla emerging as the No.1 physical game of the period.
It's the first time Assassin's Creed has claimed the Christmas No.1 position (and indeed, the first time for Ubisoft), and only the third time a non-FIFA or Call of Duty game has topped the boxed charts in 15 years (source: GfK Entertainment).
The game shot up in sales 66% due to some price discounting ahead of Christmas. The game beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which was in second place after managing to sell as many copies this past week as it did the week before. It is the first time the Black Ops sub-series has not managed to claim Christmas No.1.
The big No.1 of last week was Cyberpunk 2077, and the RPG dropped 80% in sales this week and falls to No.3. The game has received some extremely negative press in recent days due to its poor technical performance on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. However, it's worth noting that an 80% drop in sales is not hugely unusual for a game such as this. Indeed, other games that secured big pre-orders, like The Last of Us: Part Two in the summer, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla in November, both dropped by 80% and 70% respectively in their second week.
It's likely the negative press has had some impact upon the game's sales this week, but the majority of the decline is to be expected.
CD Projekt's new game does hold off FIFA 21, which has to settle for fourth place despite a 40% sales increased. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is at No.5 with an 11% drop in sales, the first sales drop it's experienced in over a month. Just 9,000 units separates Animal Crossing at No.5 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla at No.1.
This entire chart is purely based on physical retail sales.
Elsewhere, there were a number of last minute spikes in sales across the charts, partially due to price discounting. Spider-Man: Miles Morales climbs to No.6 after a 45% sales rise, Ring Fit Adventure returns to the Top Ten at No.9 after an 155% sales jump and Super Mario 3D All-Stars holds tenth spot with a 44% sales increase. Outside of the Top Ten, Immortals: Fenyx Rising jumps to No.12 thanks to an 107% sales increase, Watch Dogs Legion is at No.14 due to a 98% sales spike, and Carnival Games returns at No.35 with a 499% sales surge. There were deals on PS4 games, too, which meant that The Last of Us: Part Two is back at No.30 with a 374|% sales spike, and Ghost of Tsushima reaches No.34 after sales rose 208%.
Here is the Christmas GfK Top Ten for the week ending December 19th:
Last Week
This Week
Title
4
1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
2
2
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
1
3
Cyberpunk 2077
5
4
FIFA 21
3
5
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
8
6
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
7
7
Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
6
8
Just Dance 2021
16
9
Ring Fit Adventure
10
10
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
And just for fun, here are all the other Christmas No.1s in history. FIFA (eight) and Call of Duty (nine) are the franchises that have the highest number of Christmas No.1s.
Year
Title
2020
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft)
2019
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Activision)
2018
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
2017
Call of Duty: WWII (Activision)
2016
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision)
2015
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Activision)
2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision)
2013
FIFA 14 (EA)
2012
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision)
2011
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
2010
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
2009
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision)
2008
FIFA 09 (EA)
2007
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Activision)
2006
FIFA 07 (EA)
2005
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
2004
Need for Speed: Underground 2 (EA)
2003
Medal of Honour: Rising Sun (EA)
2002
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar)
2001
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (EA)
2000
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Eidos)
1999
Tomb Raider 4: The Last Revelation (Eidos)
1998
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo)
1997
FIFA: Road To World Cup 98 (EA)
1996
FIFA 97 (EA)
1995
FIFA Soccer 96 (EA)
1994
FIFA Soccer 95 (EA)
1993
FIFA International Soccer (EA)
1992
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Sega)
1991
WWF Wrestlemania (Ocean)
1990
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirrorsoft)
1989
Chase HQ (Ocean)
1988
Operation Wolf (Ocean)
1987
Out Run (Sega)
1986
Gauntlet (US Gold)
1985
Commando (Elite)
1984
Ghostbusters (Activision)
