The game is the second biggest PS5 launch so far, behind popular launch game Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Like Spider-Man, the new Horizon was released on both PS4 and PS5. 68% of the boxed sales were on PS5 with the remainder on the older PlayStation.
Forbidden West's launch sales are down 35% compared with its predecessor: 2017's Horizon: Zero Dawn. However, this data does not factor in digital sales, and the download market has accelerated significantly in the last five years. Digital download data will be released later in the week.
[...]
The previous biggest 'Souls' game launch (at boxed retail) was 2016's Dark Souls 3, but Elden Ring has beaten that title's boxed launch by 26%. This is before we consider digital sales, and the download games market has accelerated significantly since 2016. Digital sales data arrives later in the week.
It is the third biggest retail launch of the year, behind Pokémon Legends: Arceus and narrowly behind last week's Horizon: Forbidden West.
63% of boxed sales were on PS5, with 17% on Xbox, 17% on PS4 and 3% on PC. Note: PC and Xbox are heavily digital platforms, this is purely for boxed sales.
The launch of Elden Ring means that last week's No.1, Horizon: Forbidden West, falls to No.2. The PlayStation exclusive saw a 79% drop in sales week-on-week. There was a drop in available PS5 consoles this week, too.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is next at No.3, which is down one place The hit Nintendo Switch game actually rose in sales week-on-week by 5%.
Another recent release is Dying Light 2: Stay Human, which this week drops from No.3 to No.7 after a 55% sales slide week-on-week.
There is one other new game in the boxed charts, Grid Legends, which crosses the finishing line at No.18. The EA/Codemasters racing game sold best on PS5, which accounted for 56% of boxed sales, followed by Xbox (26%) and then PS4 (17%). The game will face some stiff competiton on PS5 next week with the arrival of Gran Turismo 7.