Black Ops 3 Is Seventh Fastest-Selling Call of Duty in UK

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 has been ranked as the seventh-fastest selling game in the series so far, according to data collected by sales monitor Chart-Track.

While such a result would add to suggestions that Activision's tent-pole shooter series is facing a long-term sales decline, Chart-Track notes that Black Ops 3 shipped on a Friday in the UK, as opposed to the series' traditional release falling on a Tuesday. That gives other games in the series a three-day sales advantage.

Six of the previous Call of Duty games had released on a Tuesday; Advanced Warfare, Ghosts, Black Ops 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops, and Modern Warfare 2. The Treyarch-developed World At War, and the first Modern Warfare, released in 2008 and 2007 respectively, were the last two games in the series to ship on a Friday.

The situation is complicated further because Chart-Track's data does not include digital download sales. Due to the increasing popularity of console downloads, a growing number of Call of Duty game sales are not measured.

Nevertheless, Black Ops 3 has landed at the top of the all-format charts, and becomes the UK's 14th fastest-selling game in week one since records began. More than 90 percent of sales for the game were for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions (with a market share of 48 percent and 43 percent respectively).

Elsewhere in the charts, Need For Speed enters at number three, with Electronic Arts' flagship sports game FIFA 16 climbing to second despite a seven percent drop in sales. The remainder of the chart is dominated by franchises that are more than ten years old. Halo 5: Guardians drops to fourth, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate falls to third, Grand Theft Auto 5 holds at eighth.

The full top ten follows below. This chart does not include digital sales data, and thus should not be considered fully representative of all UK game sales.

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
2. FIFA 16
3. Need For Speed
4. Halo 5
5. Assassin's Creed Syndicate
6. Minecraft Story Mode
7. WWE 2K16
8. Grand Theft Auto 5
9. LEGO Dimensions
10. Call of Duty: Ghosts