With the holiday season coming to a close as the New Year celebrations hit, a big area of focus for the video game industry is how releases performed during the spending period. One company that often does well in this time is Ubisoft, with the publisher's numerous big releases making a significant impact with players. With recent confirmation that Assassin's Creed Valhalla has broken series sale records coming in as the biggest UK physical seller for Ubisoft in 2020, the race for the second place is just heating up.
A report from GameIndustry overlooking the recent physical sales charts in the UK provides a surprising statistic. In the breakdown of chart positions following the Christmas period, it seems Ubisoft's second biggest physical seller may shift before 2021 sets in.
As noted in the report, Just Dance 2021 may overtake Watch Dogs: Legion as the second biggest physical seller in the UK. With Just Dance 2021 coming in at seventh place for the top seller of the week, the dancing game has had a considerable presence on the chart since releasing on November 12. It is because of this consistent performance that Just Dance 2021 has brought in big numbers, even over Watch Dogs: Legion which had a two week head start.
For some gamers, it may seem strange that Just Dance would covet such high demand from players, but the franchise has a history of significant staying power. No point elaborates on this more than the recent confirmation that Just Dance would actually be the final release for a beloved console. Just Dance 2020 was the final Wii game to release, coming a full six years after the ultra successful introduction to motion controls was discontinued. With a Just Dance game still holding out on old hardware, it should come as no surprise that it would beat out some big releases.
While Just Dance 2021 is making big headway in terms of sales, it won't come close to toppling Ubisoft's biggest success of the year. Assassin's Creed Valhalla has been a big hit in terms of physical sales, beating out some of the biggest contenders. On the launch week of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, Assassin's Creed Valhalla beat Call of Duty in physical sales demonstrating continued support for the long-running franchise.
It is important to note that while Just Dance 2021 will likely overtake Watch Dogs: Legion, it is still unknown if the same is true in terms of digital sales. Amid the ongoing pandemic, digital sales have become an important factor as the physical market adapts. Although, with Just Dance 2021 introducing new songs from the League of Legends' K/DA, it may just get a big boost in digital buys.
Just Dance 2021 is available now for PS5, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: GameIndustry.biz