Lukewarm reviews and launch issues didn’t stop Days Gone from selling well.
Bend Studio’s Days Gone was launched last week, and the PlayStation 4 exclusive received mixed critical reception with some pointing towards a lack of innovation on the open-world zombie survival gameplay, as well as the one-note characters. However, critics are once again somewhat made irrelevant by pure sales numbers, as proven by Days Gone topping the UK Charts.
What’s even more surprising is the fact that a PlayStation exclusive with not-so stellar reviews has managed to beat a multi-platform release, Mortal Kombat 11. It’s a rare feat to enjoy such a thing, especially since there is a kind of premium associated with the Mortal Kombat name as one of the most recognized titles when it comes to fighting games.
Comparing Days Gone to Sony’s past exclusives, it didn’t do so bad either, especially as two of them are also standout titles. March 2017 saw the release of Horizon Zero Dawn, and it also occupied the same top spot on the UK Charts during its release. What’s more, it was also the biggest ever new IP launch for the PlayStation 4.
Last year’s April 2018 saw the launch of God of War, another exclusive title for the PlayStation 4. The series reboot title was also the fastest-selling entry in the franchise in terms of the UK Charts. Compared to God of War, however, Days Gone’s physical sales are lower by about 27 percent.
Elsewhere on the charts, Mortal Kombat 11 made its debut at the number two spot, which is still commendable, although I half-expected it to take number one particularly due to the fact that the game was sold on four platforms: Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. Despite this, its publisher Warner Bros. Interactive President David Haddad stated that the fighting game had the biggest launch in the series’ history, though an actual number was never released.
Last week’s number one, World War Z, dropped by a huge 70 percent in sales and slunk down to number 10.
