UK lockdown boosts game sales, especially on Nintendo Switch Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. UK lockdown boosts game sales, especially on Nintendo Switch New horizons. News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 11 Jan 2021 27 comments We're all spending a lot more time indoors at the moment, and this effect can clearly be seen in the amount of games we're buying. The latest UK chart data for boxed sales shows that 260k physical games were sold in just the first week of January 2021 (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz), up by a third on last year, with 15 slots in the top 40 taken up by Nintendo Switch exclusives. Nintendo's colourful and cheerful games are performing particularly well - which may perhaps come as no surprise. Sales of Nintendo games were up by 123 per cent on the same period last year, and the top-selling boxed game in the UK last week was, once again, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Ol' faithful Mario Kart 8 Deluxe came in second. The multi-platform Just Dance 3 boogied into third place, with 91 per cent of its physical sales for... you guessed it, Nintendo Switch. Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo's popular exercise-at-home game increased its sales again last week, earning it sixth place in the chart. This is despite the fact it costs £69 (as it comes with its plastic fitness ring accessory). The Switch version of Minecraft and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe both also made it into the UK boxed game top 10, while other Switch exclusives such as Super Mario All-Stars, 51 Worldwide Games, Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Sword were in the top 20. Elsewhere, some non-Nintendo games did get a look-in. FIFA 21 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla continue to sell well, and charted in fourth and fifth respectively. And Cyberpunk 2077, which has been slowly sliding down the boxed games chart now for weeks, was in 20th. Here's the full top 10: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Just Dance 2021 FIFA 21 Assassin's Creed Valhalla Ring Fit Adventure Minecraft (Switch) GTA5 New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe COD BLOPS Cold War Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store