God of War Ragnarok is already the biggest launch in franchise history | UK time tunnel

God of War Ragnarok is off to a huge start in the UK, according to graphic firm GfK.

The company said it is on track to be the fourth game in the series to top the UK boxed charts.

12 God of War games have previously been released in the UK, including six major releases, two mobile games, and a series of collections and remasters.

The first game was released in July 2005 on PS3 and debuted at No. 5 – one of the times the God of War title hasn’t appeared at number one. The second game in the series, released two years later in May 2007 (also on PS2 and after the release of PS3), reached number one. The franchise moved to PS3 for God of War 3 in Mach 2010, and it also topped the charts again.

The fourth major title, God of War Ascension, arrived three years later but #1 was pushed back by a reboot of Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider.

But the series really ramped up with the 2018 reboot of God of War on PlayStation 4.

“It became a bestseller at the time in terms of first week sales as well as lifetime sales for this franchise,” said Dorian Bloch, President of GfK. GamesIndustry.biz. In 2018, God of War ranked fifth in terms of units and revenue on the Sony formats.

The only PS4 games bigger than God of War that year were FIFA 19, Red Dead Redemption 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

We’re now at the launch of God of War Ragnarok, and based on packaged sales only, it will become the biggest launch of the God of War title in the UK.

“God of War Ragnarok will appear at number one and is the first crossover title in the series,” Bloch says. Actual sales for the first day were already greater than any other week-long launch sales for other titles in this franchise.

Bloch adds that 55% of PS5 sales this week are part of the God of War hardware bundle.

History of the UK’s God of War chart