It was an exciting race for Christmas # 1 this year, with Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as the # 1 physical game of the period.
It’s the first time Assassin’s Creed has claimed the # 1 position of Christmas (and indeed the first time for Ubisoft), and only the third time that a non-FIFA or Call of Duty game has topped the box in 15 years. charts (source: GfK Entertainment).
The game’s sales were up 66% due to a discount on Christmas prices. The game beat Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which was in second place after managing to sell as many copies in the past week as the week before. It is the first time that the Black Ops sub-series has failed to claim Christmas number 1.
Last week’s big # 1 was Cyberpunk 2077 and the RPG dropped 80% in sales this week, dropping to # 3. The game has received extremely negative press in recent days due to poor technical performance on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It’s worth noting, however, that an 80% drop in sales isn’t hugely uncommon for a game like this. Indeed, other games that landed big pre-orders, such as The Last of Us: Part Two in the summer and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in November, both fell 80% and 70% respectively in their second week.
It’s likely that the negative press has had some impact on the game’s sales this week, but most of the drop is to be expected.
The new game from CD Projekt stops FIFA 21, which has to settle for fourth place despite a 40% increase in sales. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is at number 5 with a sales decline of 11%, the first sales decline in more than a month. Just 9,000 units separate 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 some last-minute spikes in sales on the charts, partly due to price discounting. Spider-Man: Miles Morales climbs to number 6 after a 45% sales increase, Ring Fit Adventure returns to the top ten at number 9 after a sales jump of 155% and Super Mario 3D All-Stars is in 10th place with 44% sales increase. Outside of the top ten, Immortals: Fenyx Rising jumps to No. 12 with a 107% increase in sales, Watch Dogs Legion is at No. 14 with a 98% sales spike and Carnival Games returns to No. 35 with a 499% increase in sales. There were also deals on PS4 games, meaning The Last of Us: Part Two is back at number 30 with a sales peak of 374%, and Ghost of Tsushima at number 34 after an increase of 208%.
Here’s the Christmas GfK Top Ten for the week ending December 19:
| 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 numbers 1 in history. FIFA (eight) and Call of Duty (eight) are the franchises with the highest number of Christmas numbers 1.
| 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 Honor: 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 | Command (Elite) |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters (Activision) |