EA Sports FC 24 gains second biggest physical launch of 2023 in UK, but its sales down 30% compared to FIFA 23
EA Sports FC 24 is Electronic Arts’ first football sim released after the company ended its long-term partnership with FIFA. Here is how the game performed at launch.
According to a new report from GfK (via GamesIndustry.biz), EA Sports FC 24 debuted at #1 on the UK Boxed Charts for the week ending September 30.
Its first-week physical sales were down 30% compared to FIFA 23, which is no surprise given the rebranding and the removal of a long-standing and well-recognized name from the title.
However, EA Sports FC 24 is still the second biggest boxed launch of 2023, behind only The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Other top launches of the year include Hogwarts Legacy, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Resident Evil 4 remake, Final Fantasy XVI, and Dead Island 2.
It is worth noting that GfK’s UK charts only track physical copies, so with digital units, EA Sports FC 24 could even be the biggest launch of 2023 so far.
Below are GfK’s top 10 best-selling physical games in the UK for the week ending September 30:
- EA Sports FC 24 (new)
- Mortal Kombat 1 (↓1)
- Hogwarts Legacy (↓1)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (↑1)
- Grand Theft Auto V (↑3)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (↑3)
- Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (↑3)
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Re-entry)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (↑5)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Complete Edition (↑12)
Launched on September 29, EA Sports FC 24 received generally favorable reviews from the press, with Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions holding an average Metascore of 76. PC players were far more critical, as the game currently has a “Mixed” rating on Steam (55% of the almost 4,000 user reviews are positive). They criticized it for bugs and overall poor technical state, as well as some gameplay issues and lack of improvements compared to previous titles.
However, EA Sports FC 24 still showed great player interest on the platform, peaking at 82,287 concurrent users (via SteamDB).
Concurrent player count in EA Sports FC 24 vs. previous FIFA games on Steam
Earlier this year, Electronic Arts also announced a restructuring, splitting its business into two organizations, EA Entertainment and EA Sports. The latter will be responsible for its sports franchises like EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, and NHL.
