UK Charts: Mario Kart World Takes The Lead While Cronos Sees Weak Sales On Switch 2

1% less than PC can't be uniquely bad, it just seems the PS crowd were the ones uniquely drawn to this one for some reason. Besides being busy with Silksong, I personally didn't pick it up on S2 because of the reviews showing performance woes. Maybe after some patches I'll reconsider.

@SpaceboyScreams almost no one on PC buys physical.

How's digital Cronos on UK Switch 2 eShop chart doing? Can't check as on holiday in Greece with only my Switch Lite!

Game Key cards....need i say more

Game-Key Cards strike again. When will they learn that people who buy physical don't want Game-Key Cards?

On the flip side, very happy to see Daemon x Machine with 72% of physical sales on the Switch 2. Looks like Marvelous is being justly rewarded for putting the game on a real cartridge.

I plan on getting Cronos, it looks great... but it's a Game Key Card. I won't pay full price for that.

Also, it came along with Silksong and Star Wars Outlaws, one of the most impressive ports of the platform. Not the best time to be released.

clearly physical games are wanted a lot more then key cards as we saw with outlaws and cyberpunk..

@Fiskern pc today dont even come with disk drives for you to put a physical game in.. nice trolling..

@johnedwin trolling? What are you talking about? This is a list of physical sales.

Nice to see that starwars is doing good on the switch 2!

@johnedwin

You do realise Outlaws is a Game Key Card right?

There was a whole article on it and everything.

well yeah, because Hollow Knight has been sucking all the oxygen out the room and when Chronos released people were like 'oh, I didn't realise that was releasing. For what is ultimately just a good 2D metroidvania, this Hollow Knight hype has been kinda unwarranted tbh.

"Game-Key Card format won't be doing Switch 2 sales any favours"

On the other hand 75% of SW Outlaws were on Switch 2 which shows it is not an issue for the vast majority.

Pretty easy to create a narrative.

@Smithicus

Counterpoint, the hype has been well warranted.

@Fiskern I wouldn't have ever imagined anyone still tracked physical PC game sales. I haven't seen a disk drive in ages nor a PC game in a store since I can remember. Makes sense though I guess.

@Smithicus Unwarranted how? How far are you?

Cronos has no reviews on Switch 2 yet except some minor videos on performance. PS5, PC and Xbox do, however. There's probably plenty of folks waiting for a decent amount of Switch centric reviews to popup.

@Olliemar28 Thanks! So looks like proper digital might be doing better.

I wonder if Game Key Cards are doing worse in Europe as I noticed Pac-Man World Re-Pac 2 is digital only here but getting a Game Key Card release in US.

BLUEY was still on number 40. 😊

@SpaceboyScreams I just got the reaper crest and died on my first fight with moorwing. Dont get me wrong, I do like Hollow Knight, and Silksong is great. but I also feel like I am just playing very well made metroidvania games, and these are not the greatest games of all time or anything. (btw anyone reading this, for a recent metroidvania that is (at least) equally as good as HK, play Cathedral)

@Smithicus

Dont get me wrong, I do like Hollow Knight, and Silksong is great. but I also feel like I am just playing very well made metroidvania games, and these are not the greatest games of all time or anything.

Why couldn't a very well made metroidvania be among the greatest games of all time, just like a very well made game in any other genre could? Hollow Knight is definitely among my top 10 video games of all time. (It's too early to say where Silksong will place in that list.)

Glad to see key card games underperforming, well deserved.

@SBandy1 @JohnnyMind Didn't Star Wars Outlaws release on the other formats a year ago though? So that 75% is gonna be very skewed by that really as most with other formats will already have it by now.

@SpaceboyScreams I get what you mean. I'm surprised the number was that high at all.

Stupid question...but as this is the boxed charts...can you still buy PC games boxed? I am not a PC Gamer, so not really clued up. I thought it had basically been replaced by Steam? Just so many new computers don't even have CD Rom drives now.

@Polvasti nah it really isnt amongst the 10 greatest games of all time. I concede that it will be in the 10 greatest Metroidvania games of all time (Super Metroid and Symphony of the Nights are superior metroidvania titles) but NO WAY top 10 games of time. top 50 games of time, OK, sure, thats plausible.

Re Cronos sales on Switch 2. Clearly everyone in the UK is waiting for Nintendo Life’s review before buying!!! Where’s the review NL?

I can't find cronos physical to buy anywhere. even online. That has to contribute to the low sales.
I'm based in Ireland.

@WheresWaveRace There are no professional reviews of the Switch 2 version of Cronos out yet, so presumably the publisher didn't send any review copies in advance. If I were to guess, it's because the Switch 2 version reportedly suffers from performance issues, and they didn't want reviews to point that out before the game was released.

yeah Outlaws has been out on other platforms for over a year and i personally bought it for £24.
I cant see many buying the game on PS5/XBXOX now and if they are its so cheap its a no brainer/

for all we know the 7% Xbox sales might only be 100 copies. , so actual numbers might be poo for all we know.

percentages don't give a indication of how ell its doing.

it might be 750 units for all we know.

I'm not sure why anyone here keeps judging general spending habbits of Nintendo gamers based on UK when it's widely known that UK is a Playstation dominated region.

That's like judging Playstation sales based only on Japan. Not to mention Switch 2 is a new platform that just released and we don't know how many physical Switch 2 copies of Chronos were even shipped in UK.

Would have bought it, but Game Key Card…

@KITG_GROUP it's at number 7, it's not 750 copies.

@Solid_Python this was certainly true in the not so distant past but Ninty have been doing really well in the UK since the OG Switch launched so this narrative needs to be updated to Ninty and Playstation dominated/contested region with M$ left behind (in physical sales for sure).

To back this up just look at this week
26/40 titles on Nintendo Platforms - possibly more as I'm not sure if one of those Witcher3 versions or Need for Speed is the Switch version.
11/40 first party titles!!!

Once again i'm not sure you can truly draw any conclusions about key cards from the Cronos data.

The game appears to have largely flown under the radar and while it had some good reviews it didn't blow the doors off.

So more analysis needed before you can blame the key card thing.

That said, with this sort of game I see no reason to buy the Switch 2 version unless you have no option and for anyone who likes physical games and wants it the key card is going to push you to PS.

@Suketoudara

That is kind of my point. You can create a narrative from anything.

The support for the game on Switch 2 still brought it up to 7th in the charts.

Who knows how much of a factor the games' being a game key card actually is.

I can't even find a copy of the UK version of Cronos on Amazon UK for example. I'd say that impacts sales.

@Pickettfury
Exactly. I know I do.
What is up with Switch reviews for this game?

@Smithicus It’s all opinions man. If it’s not worth the hype to you then that’s all good but Hollow Knight was insanely popular and is a favourite game of a lot of people, it makes sense why it’s been so anticipated.

Like I’ve never really cared about GTA but
I can understand why GTA VI is so hyped up even if it’s not worth myself getting excited about it.

I bought both Cronos and Star Wars. I am REALLY enjoying both games. I would say that Cronos is niché. A 3rd person slow survival horror. BUT I LOVE IT! The game is simple in it's core gameplay but it evolves as you play. The story is super interesting and the music score is very Stranger Things.. This is a very solid horror game IMO opinion. The setting is scary the pacing is slow but smooth. The rewards for exporation are worth it. Don't pass this one up. It is great. Specially if you are a survival horror fan. <3

Im glad that Mario kart world is back to number one, Nintendo deserves it! Hope it will dominate the lists in the future too, like the previous Mario kart.

Wasn't physical Cronos exclusive to one place at launch? Less visibility on the remaining shelves. The game is a banger

I'll never fully get my head around the logic of so many people buying FC25 last week when FC26 is right around the corner.

I get that it's probably on sale..... maybe it's just me but I always prefer to have the newest version (of anything) if and when available

I mean isn't it game key card? Those shouldn't even count on this list because I thought it only counted physical games

Nice to see some new games joining in the pack! Competition is good.

Looks like this comment section has a decent competition going on too, considering the Charts articles almost never get 50+ comments.

Cronos 8% on switch 2 isn't bad at all, in fact it's about as good as the ps5 sales, considering how many ps5's have been sold.
That's roughly 85 million ps5's vs 7 million switch 2's.
So that article title is wrong.

Key cards, that's the problem, I want this game, & Little nightmares 3. But they are both key cards on Switch 2. So will probably buy on PS5.

@Smithicus

There have been several Metroidvanias over the years, that I have enjoyed and replayed more than Hollow Knight - Infernax and Astalon: Tears of The Earth being my favorites. Hollow Knight for sure is good, but I agree with folks who say it isn't the "be-all-end-all" metroid-style game.

People blaming Cronos low sales on key cards should examine why Outlaws is selling well on the very same key cards.

@Axelay71 the question is, do those two games you mention both require a download before you're able to play it on your ps5? If so, then there would be no difference between the ps5 and switch 2 physical versions. Both would need a download first and both can be resold. Which means if they decide one day to remove the download from the store... the disc or cart will be useless.
But if they don't need a download to be able to be played, then i understand your decision.
On the other hand, you wouldn't be able to play in handheld on the plane for example.

I'm too attached to the hybrid way of playing and after my ps4 i haven't gotten a reason to buy a ps5 yet, no system sellers there for me personally.

@Bunkerneath do you seriously not by any downloadable games?

@The_Pixel_King Obviously another 5 million PS2s were sold thanks to Silksong, so it's back on track, baby.

-Sony, probably

@Aloha yes i see your point, that's whst sways me to Switch 1/2 the portability.

@Automated_Unit_4937 Yes, obviously you have not seen my EVERY post about how digital is not owning a game and I only play physicals

Sorry Cronos, I'm interested but occupied right now... Hope they get some extra traction in spooky season.

Mario Kart World is a beast. Donkey Kong Bananza is holding up well. I hope Chronos holds up, I think it's a promising new IP.

Nintendo really screwed up with the cartridge design and decisions this go around, if what we're hearing is true the switch to cartridges are relatively slow, And that's why some companies are using the key card method, if Nintendo is smart about this they would have gotten rid of the key card, and left a block on the internal memory for a rather large cash file, so that games could prefetch assets from the card prior to them being needed by the game....

Physical percent sales are just horrible for Nintendo because of these damn key cards

Cronos deserves more sales. It's a really good game

@JohnnyMind yep
with all the games out at the moment , i cant see Star Wars outlaws having much sales on other platforms, unless there giving it away for a fiver

@Solid_Python core keep your hair on . haha.

ok 751

its alright people when VGCHARTS update we will get numbers and not percentages.

you want numbers visit VGC.

the previous week Metal Gear ,sold a a Million copies at Launch, not bad for a remake that has some issues apparently.

@Suketoudara Pretty well actually, It's at 6

For anyone wondering, cronos looks and runs great on switch 2 and only 1% lower than PC!?

I'm actually a bit surprised by that

@DKG-85 This is the chart for physical UK sales. The physical PC version outselling the physical Switch 2 version (even if just by 1%) is pretty pathetic. I didn't even know they still made physical PC games.

Without actual sales numbers, like the one on Japan sales, these sort of lists aren’t all that useful.

@Bunkerneath what's the difference in you downloading the game into your internal storage in your big piece of plastic and having it ready for you to play whenever you want or another another storage piece encased in a smaller piece of plastic that comes in a box?

Will definitely be buying Cronos on my switch 2. Game key card, who cares. It's just not available in physical form yet so I have to wait a month.

The thing that cracks me up about the game key card situation is that it's the biggest self-own switch 2 owners could ever bring upon themselves.

Like yeah, let those corporations know you aren't gonna buy their games. That'll teach them.

@SBandy1 here's a narrative: the fact Outlaws has sold as well as it has on switch 2 speaks far more about the current state of switch 2 games there are to play than it does about how good a game it is or isn't.

No one anywhere was talking about outlaws before the switch 2 port was announced. It's a star wars branded assassin's Creed

Cronos Sees Weak Sales On Switch 2

I'm interested in the game, but of the Switch 2 reviews so far I see:

...the Nintendo Switch 2 version has some visual downgrades and minor technical issues...

and NL saying the S2 version has:

... a rather unpleasant bug...

So I'm not buying it until I get some "green light" information.

@topsekret physical PC sales % have only VERY recently started to appear on these charts, as far as I’m aware. It is very unusual, I don’t understand it.

@topsekret but the switch 2 version is a key card and I thought those we're counted as digital sales.

Also last time I checked you couldn't even get the "physical" switch 2 version on Amazon or in any shops so of course it's gonna be low.

@DKG-85 Depends on who you ask.

There was a news story several weeks ago about how Capcom considers key cards as digital sales for their financial reports.

Collectors like me consider them as closer to digital games rather than physical games.

But for this UK sales chart, they are just tracking games sold at retail, and key cards are indeed sold at retail. The sales chart doesn't really care whether or not the game is physically on the cartridge.

I don't see a "physical" PC version on Amazon UK either, and I doubt it was carried in any shops, so it has the same visibility problems as the Switch 2 key card. So it's not impressive that the Switch 2 "physical" is only 1% behind PC "physical." And I'm sure the digital PC version is crushing the Switch 2 digital version in terms of sales.

@AmplifyMJ Yeah, I'm wondering if it's basically a code in a box in a collector's edition or something. I can't imagine any publisher selling a physical PC game on a disc in this day and age.

@Fiskern There are roughly 85 million ps5's vs 7 million switch 2 out there and a lot more pc's. So if you compare ps5 vs switch 2 sales, it's about the same attachment rate. So this article title makes no sense.

@Olliemar28 Cronos 8% on switch 2 isn't weak at all, in fact it's about as good as the ps5 sales, considering how many ps5's have been sold.
That's roughly 85 million ps5's vs 7 million switch 2's.
So it's about the same attachment rate.
I'd like to know why you think the sales on the Switch 2 was weak, mathematically speaking it's in the same ballpark as PS5