Horizon Zero Dawn tops Zelda in UK charts

Two of the year’s most anticipated open-world games — Horizon Zero Dawn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — launched last week, and according to UK sales charts, Horizon came out on top in retail sales.

For the week of March 4, Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the second-best-selling game at retail, beaten by Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, according to Chart-Track’s analytics. Grand Theft Auto V came ahead of Nintendo’s other Switch launch title, 1-2 Switch, and Super Bomberman R was outsold by both For Honor and FIFA 17.

Horizon’s massive success has made it the biggest launch on PlayStation 4 since last year’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, as well as the biggest premiere franchise launch on the PS4. Zelda: Breath of the Wild, meanwhile, was recorded as the third biggest retail launch (not counting digital sales) for the franchise, behind Wind Waker (2002) and Twilight Princess (2006). Seventy-eight percent of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sales were for the newly launched Switch version, while the other 22% were for the Wii U version.

Horizon’s dominating sales can no doubt be attributed, in large part, to the PS4’s massive install base. (Currently, over 53 million units have been sold worldwide.) In contrast, Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched both: alongside the Switch, Nintendo’s new console, and on the Wii U, which has sold under 14 million units since 2012. It should also be noted, however, that Horizon was released earlier in the week (February 28) than Zelda (March 3), meaning the PS4 exclusive had a three-day head start on Nintendo’s marquee title.

Here are the top 10 titles of last week’s UK software charts.

1. Horizon Zero Dawn
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. 1-2 Switch
5. For Honor
6. FIFA 17
7. Super Bomberman R
8. Rocket League
9. Sniper Elite 4
10. Battlefield 1

We recently reviewed both Horizon and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and they are both spectacular open-world games. We gave Horizon Zero Dawn an 85 for its “excellent open-world experience that puts fighting towering robots at the center of the action.” We called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild a phenomenal game with a scoring of 100, declaring it “the best Zelda game ever made.”