Despite topping the UK sales charts in its first week on sale, Persona 5 has now dropped off the charts entirely. 40 other games sold better than the critically-acclaimed JRPG in the week ending April 15th, with Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands returning to the top spot as the best-selling game in the UK.
While some may have expected Persona 5 to lose its position as the highest-selling game of the week, the fact that it has completely dropped off the UK sales charts comes as a surprise. After all, Persona 5 has released to widespread critical acclaim, standing as the second-highest rated game of 2017 so far, right behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
At this point, it's hard to say why Persona 5's sales have declined so dramatically in the UK. The game shipped 1.5 million copies, making it a big hit for Atlus, but perhaps everyone interested in it has already picked it up. It's entirely possible that Persona 5 doesn't have much legs beyond its big debut, which may see its sales continue to drop as the weeks go by.
It's not like Persona 5 was going against any serious new competition last week. Yooka-Laylee was one of the only big name game releases that launched, and it debuted on the charts in sixth place. Most of the top 10 is comprised of older games, like Grand Theft Auto 5, Overwatch, and FIFA 17, so it seems people in the UK just aren't as interested in Persona 5 as those other titles.
Something else that could have played a role in Persona 5 losing its footing on the UK sales charts so soon is that there have been a slew of well-received PS4 console exclusives as of late. Besides Persona 5, games like Nioh, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Nier: Automata have all earned strong reviews and sales, meaning PS4 owners are being pulled in many different directions. Of course, it's worth noting that neither Nioh nor Nier made the list either, so there could be another explanation for Persona 5's drop in sales, like the controversy over its lack of a female playable character, for instance.
Whatever the reason for Persona 5's drop in sales, the game at least had a strong debut, and could continue to perform well in other parts of the world. Regardless, Persona 5 still stands as one of Atlus' biggest accomplishments to date (female character and streaming policy controversies aside), and if the strong reviews are any indication, it is certainly worth checking out for fans of the JRPG genre.
Persona 5 is available now for PS3 and PS4.
Source: Chart-Track