The Division 2 sales struggle compared to original game

The Division 2 sales numbers in the UK have been revealed, with the game having managed just 20 percent of the sales achieved by its 2016 predecessor. While these figures only take into account physical purchases, it’s unlikely that digital sales will have made up such a huge deficit.

The Division 2 launched early for those with Gold and Ultimate editions of the game, meaning that many will have opted to buy the sequel digitally in order to play it first. However, the 80 percent decline is a significant drop, with the UK market not investing in The Division 2 with the enthusiasm Ubisoft would have hoped for.

That being said, The Division 2 did manage to place at the top of the charts in an otherwise quiet week for game releases, in which recently released major games fell off the radar. Elsewhere in the UK games sales charts, Anthem dropped out of the top 10 entirely, falling to number 11 as further evidence of the market’s ambivalence towards EA’s loot shooter. Devil May Cry 5 also experienced a major fall, with its sales decreasing by 76 percent week-on-week as it slipped to number 6.

On the other hand, Red Dead Redemption 2 moved up the charts to number 2, while the indomitable Grand Theft Auto 5 received a 121 percent sales increase that moved it up to number three.

Digital sales have increased across the industry since The Division in 2016, though not at a swift enough pace to suggest that The Division 2‘s underperformance can be explained away by digital downloads. As was also suggested by the lukewarm reaction to Anthem, it seems that the market is becoming increasingly wary of Games as a Service, in which players are expected to invest in online-focused games that are intended to hold their attention for an extended period of time.

The full UK games sales top 10 chart is below: