Despite Hogwarts Legacy’s tremendous digital sales and apparent popularity with fans, Metroid Prime Remastered almost topped it in the UK’s physical game sales chart for the last week. Clearly, Metroid Prime fans are passionate about holding Samus’ first 3D adventure in their hands and having it on their shelves.
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The UK’s physical sales for the week ending March 4, 2023, as reported by GamesIndustrybiz, show a tight fight for the top spot. Hogwarts Legacy did come out on top, claiming the title of best-selling title for the fourth consecutive week. However, 1,000 units separated it from Metroid Prime Remastered, a physical edition that’s only just been released after a month of the game being available on the Nintendo eShop following its surprise launch in February.
These sales make Metroid Prime Remastered the fourth biggest physical launch for a game in the Metroid series of all time. Interestingly, considering that the series is likely more popular today than it was when Metroid Prime was first released, sales for Metroid Prime remastered are still down by 45% on the 2002 GameCube original release. This may have something to do with Metroid Prime being part of a special edition console bundle, though.
Metroid Prime Remastered is the second biggest physical release of 2023 to date, beating Fire Emblem Engage and Dead Space Remake. Its digital sales remain a mystery since Nintendo doesn’t share them, though it’s unlikely the game beat Hogwarts Legacy. However, the surprise launch doesn’t seem to have impacted sales negatively at all, which could mean Nintendo follows a similar pattern with subsequent remasters in the future.
Further down the chart in eighth place is last week’s biggest new release, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Ninety-six percent of all physical sales were for PlayStation consoles, but it appears as though the game sold far better digitally than it did physically. The game’s appeal is rather niche, with devastatingly challenging combat and hard-as-nails bosses, which might be why it hasn’t risen any higher in the chart over its launch weekend—that, and the fact that it’s not had the best launch on PC.
