UK top 40: Dead Island still top

By Robert Purchese Published 19 September, 2011

Deep Silver's pockets deep with gold.

Popular zombie-basher Dead Island is still top of the UK games chart.

Dead Island sold more copies in two weeks than any other game published by Deep Silver has managed in a lifetime.

Dead Island is also now outselling PlayStation 3 exclusive Resistance 3 on the PS3 platform alone.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine, Resistance 3, Driver: San Francisco and Deus Ex: Human Revolution complete the top five.

From there, in order, are Zumba Fitness, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Rugby World Cup 2011, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Cars 2.

The only top 40 newcomer this week is the God of War Collection Volume 2 in 35th.

There's notable movement for the price-dropped Red Faction: Armageddon, which rockets from nowhere to 11th.

Sega's spooky Kinect game Rise of Nightmares had a much better second week, moving up from 37th to 18th.

The full top 40 follows beneath the video.

This Week Last Week Title Platform(s)
1 1 Dead Island PC, PS3, Xbox 360
2 2 Warhammer 40K: Space Marine PC, PS3, Xbox 360
3 4 Resistance 3 PS3
4 3 Driver: San Francisco PC, PS3, Xbox 360
5 5 Deus Ex: Human Revolution PC, PS3, Xbox 360
6 6 Zumba Fitness: Join the Party Wii, PS3, Xbox 360
7 8 Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
8 7 Rugby World Cup 2011 PS3, Xbox 360
9 15 Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
10 11 Cars 2 DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
11 Re-entry Red Faction: Armageddon PC, PS3, Xbox 360
12 21 Wii Sports Resort Wii
13 9 Star Fox 64 3D 3DS
14 35 EA Sports Active 2 PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
15 16 The Sims 3 DS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
16 13 Call of Duty: Black Ops DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
17 10 Gran Turismo 5 PS3
18 37 Rise of Nightmares Xbox 360
19 14 FIFA 11 DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
20 20 Just Dance 2 Wii
21 26 Duke Nukem Forever PC, PS3, Xbox 360
22 22 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood PC, PS3, Xbox 360
23 19 Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
24 18 Red Dead Redemption PS3, Xbox 360
25 23 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
26 27 Homefront PC, PS3, Xbox 360
27 31 Mario Kart Wii Wii
28 40 Wii Fit Plus Wii
29 33 Sniper: Ghost Warrior PC, PS3, Xbox 360
30 30 GTA: Episodes from Liberty City PS3, Xbox 360
31 24 DiRT 3 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
32 17 Madden NFL 12 PS3, Xbox 360
33 Re-entry L.A. Noire PS3, Xbox 360
34 32 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
35 New entry God of War Collection Volume 2 PS3
36 34 Skate 3 PS3, Xbox 360
37 Re-entry Killzone 3 PS3
38 Re-entry Michael Jackson: The Experience DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
39 Re-entry Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare PC, PS3, Xbox 360
40 36 Mortal Kombat PS3, Xbox 360

UKIE Games Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Haloboy #1 8 months ago

    That's because it's Dead Good.

  • Kayin #2 8 months ago

    Kudos to Deep Silver, even though a violent zombie game being the top seller is never an unexpected result.

  • MaxiSleep #3 8 months ago

    Good news. Nice to see a game rather then a series of cut scenes do well.

  • Eraysor #4 8 months ago

    Good to see that Zumba drivel out of the top 5. The top 5 is fully occupied by actual games for once!

  • telboy007 #5 8 months ago

    "nerdy Warhammer crap"

    Everyone needs to have a go on the multiplater of this nerdy warhammer crap, its stonkingly good fun.

  • shinesevens #6 8 months ago

    I was put off Dead Island by some of the reviews (Edge I am looking at you) but boredom set in over the weekend and I picked it up. I am so glad I did! Dead Island is a fantastic game and after 6 1/2 hours, instead of being almost finished, which is the norm these days, I have barely scratched the surface. It is also very refreshing to see a new IP do so well against a very tough marketplace - how many of the big publishers would have given this a decent chance?

  • Old_Books #7 8 months ago

    I really enjoyed Dead Island even though I could write a small novel on the things that I would improve for any sequel. It surprises me, though, that it has done so well; it's not often that such an unpolished game without 'franchise backing' takes the top spot.

    Oh, and re Red Faction, it might have something to do with Zavvi's Mega Monday offer of £10-I know thats why I picked it up!

    (edited for spelling)
    Edited by Old_Books at 19/09/11 @ 09:55

  • idiosis #8 8 months ago

    Not bad for a 6/10 game.

  • Quint2020 #9 8 months ago

    Good news, nice to see a small developer doing well, especially considering Dead Island is built entirely by Techland, engine and all!

  • MarketZero #10 8 months ago

    Just goes to show how increasingly out-of-touch the mainstream gaming press is becoming. Lukewarm reviews from a load of magazines and sites, yet gamers are voting with their cash and investing in games that are simply outrageous fun.

  • Cjail #11 8 months ago

    Still waiting for Resistance 3 to arrive...thanks GAME.uk

  • GamesConnoisseur #12 8 months ago

    Dead Island is indeed a better game than reviews indicated, I usually find Eurogamer and Edge's verdicts to be close to my own. NOT Dead Island, I ve seen numbers of bugs myself but the whole package deffo better than 6/10 or 3/10 from EG n Edge.

    Now I m dribbling at the mouth for the next best seller chart topper, Gears of War 3. EG 8/10 and Edge 9/10 indicates a lot of pleasures to be had but hopefully Dead Island ll be able to stay in the top ten for weeks among the top titles coming out.

  • anthonypappa #13 8 months ago

    send the word: zombies sell.

  • kinky_mong #14 8 months ago

    I don't know how Dead Island managed to get to number 1 again when it's damn near impossible to find it in stock online or in high street stores!

  • Goodfella #15 8 months ago

    I can't believe the amount of comments I've seen where people have been put off by reviews only to cave in and go out and buy it anyway, then end up loving it.

    Just shows that you shouldn't judge all games by a review. I think a lot of reviewers have really missed the ball on this one, trying to be fashionably against the game for some reason.

  • Goodfella #16 8 months ago

    Also, quite impressed at how well Resistance 3 is doing, a single format game in a sea of multi-platformers.

  • TelexStar #17 8 months ago

    Indeed. Good for Techland! Bugs and niggles aside, Dead Island is so much fun to play. Co-op is ace but so is the solo game (which has a very different vibe). EG's review of this was so far off the mark that their Dead Space balls-up pales in comparison.

    As MarketZero said, it's so refreshing to see that the majority of gamers haven't been put off by the middling reviews and recognised something a bit different in todays industry.
    Edited by TelexStar at 19/09/11 @ 10:38

  • IronGiant #18 8 months ago

    Interesting that Resistance 3 has moved up the charts this week.. Tempted by driver but not at full price.

  • Demiath #19 8 months ago

    Yet again there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of how games criticism works. Apart from the Edge controversy, none of the Dead Island reviews have been so harsh that any of our enjoyment with the game should come as a surprise to anyone. A 6 or a 7 out of 10 means that the game can provide a lot of good fun, as this product has indeed done for a lot of people. But since even 8/10 is regarded as an abysmal failure these days I guess there's no use trying to put things in perspective anymore.

    Also, where do I go to pre-order the inevitable Dead Island 2?
    Edited by Demiath at 19/09/11 @ 10:47

  • HyperTails #20 8 months ago

    Dead Island seems to be a case of gamers and reviewers opinions at polar opposite, it seems. Didn't get great reviews but people love it. Alice: Madness Returns got pretty average reviews as well and people who bought it loved it. I haven't played Dead Island but i'm more inclined to try it now that gamers have said its great fun, rather than what some up their own arse reviewer has said.

    Glad to see Resistance 3 doing well too. Great game.

  • Spekingur #21 8 months ago

    I believe that Dead Island pulled off a Just Cause.

    Nice to see that word of mouth still works.
    Edited by Spekingur at 19/09/11 @ 10:51

  • Retro_ #22 8 months ago

    I love it when Metacritic semi failures do well and are loved by many. The Saboteur was another general underachiever that was blimmin excellent fun and well received by gamers.
    Edited by Retro_ at 19/09/11 @ 10:59

  • kangarootoo #23 8 months ago

    @MarketZero

    Surely it is not the purpose of a review to predict sales figures. If a game has lots of rough edges, the job of the review is to point them out. If it later, sells very well despite its flaws, that doesn't make the review "wrong".

  • Daeltaja #24 8 months ago

    Impressive considering its out of stock literally everywhere.

    Also it's suprising to see Warhammer do so well.
    Edited by Daeltaja at 19/09/11 @ 11:20

  • chrisjm #25 8 months ago

    thats because it isnt a 6/10 game for most people. im enjoying it as much if not more than some 9/10 games.

  • whome #26 8 months ago

    great news and well deserved, another who was put off by reviews but picked up after reading comments from those who bought it, it has a few things that need tweaking but it does so many things right and it's a huge game, I'll easily put in 100+ hours once I'm done.

    congrats to Techland, more please :)

  • jetsetwillie #27 8 months ago

    great to see the top 5 selling games are all good games keeping the likes of zumba and the usual causal crap that sit on top of the UK sales chart.

  • Fightclubber #28 8 months ago

    Shocker at Space Marine being in the top 5. Solid shooting and combat but the level design is utterly dreadful, some of the most basic looking stuff ive seen, felt like I was playing a ps2 port. Good for Dead Island tho, its like Borderlands with decapitations

  • Eraysor #29 8 months ago

    Dead Island was definitely not out of stock in Gamestation Bristol on Saturday. The reason: they were charging £47.99 for it.

    EDIT: Also looks like NHL 12 is gone from the chart after one week!
    Edited by Eraysor at 19/09/11 @ 11:35

  • neems #30 8 months ago

    "Dead Island sold more copies in two weeks than any other game published by Deep Silver has managed in a lifetime."

    Holy shit.

  • Monkey_Puncher #31 8 months ago

    Really nice to see new IP from a reasonably small developer and publisher selling so well!

  • Ignatius_Cheese #32 8 months ago

    Shows how little you need to sell to get a number 1 slot. 1 million copies for North America and 1 million for the Rest of the World is not good business, Deep Silver.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #33 8 months ago

    That's great news. Techland deserve their rewards for Dead Island, even if Call of Juarez was a little off this year. This gives me much hope for the industry.

    Guess this success guarantees a sequel, and frankly I couldn't fault them that and would certainly buy again. Loved the idea of the game in 2007,and was worried when it went quiet for a while. I was glad that I didn't purchased another average game like Brink, which was hyped but kinda fell at the post.

    All the bugs and crashes I'll for give, because its a nice alternative to the cool but rather shallow L4D, and is hella fun.

    I just hope that Techland would be open to feedback for the sequel (if so where to send it), because they've got something special here. I'd be happy if they focused on this more, and left Call of Juarez series alone.

  • MarketZero #34 8 months ago

    @kangarootoo

    The most bug and glitch ridden high profile game of recent times is Fallout 3, which scored a perfect 10/10 with EG. The reviewer clearly saw past its many flaws and reviewed the game as such, which I applaud (tho I think 10 is too high).

    The opposite treatment was applied with Dead Island, which was largely an exercise in Digital Foundry style nitpicking, ignoring the heart and soul of the game.

    It's got nothing to do with predicting sales figures.

    EDITED ONCE FOR GRAMMAR.
    Edited by MarketZero at 19/09/11 @ 12:56

  • cowell #35 8 months ago

    "Just goes to show how increasingly out-of-touch the mainstream gaming press is becoming. Lukewarm reviews from a load of magazines and sites, yet gamers are voting with their cash and investing in games that are simply outrageous fun."

    @marketzero

    This isn't the first or last time that a games sales will not reflect the review scores it gets. It happens all of the time. Games like Enslaved and Bayonetta were widely praised but were commerical failures. When I used to work in retail we referred to these games as "Ico's". I don't think this instance particularly shows the press is out of touch

  • LR100 #36 8 months ago

    I completed the main story and a lot of side quests in about 21 hours. I restarted the game to continue levelling my character and play with some friends in co-op who hadn't finished it. After some jungle exploration, we found two completely new villages, including one full of more side quests. It's the game that keeps on giving!

  • whome #37 8 months ago

    "Dead Island sold more copies in two weeks than any other game published by Deep Silver has managed in a lifetime. "

    how is that not good business?

    good grief.

  • arcam #38 8 months ago

    Games that score highly but don't sell aren't uncommon.

    But, outside of movie tie-ins and casual stuff, a low-scoring game proving to be a hit seems to be relatively rare.

  • TravisTouchdown #39 8 months ago

    @Goodfella

    "Just shows that you shouldn't judge all games by a review. I think a lot of reviewers have really missed the ball on this one, trying to be fashionably against the game for some reason."

    Spot on. And I must admit, I didn't expect a great deal from it, given the publisher in particular - not one that any reviewers feel compelled to cosy up to, evidently. I don't think it's quite as bad as Edge's 6/10 for GTA3 - which they atempted to retract and award an 8, claiming a misprint, once the backlash hit - but there are certainly parallels...
    Edited by TravisTouchdown at 19/09/11 @ 13:30

  • dfunked #40 8 months ago

    Hmmmm... Guess I'll be waiting a while for it to drop to £15 on the PC, then...
    Stupid poorness :(

  • TelexStar #41 8 months ago

    @kangaroo too - "Surely it is not the purpose of a review to predict sales figures. If a game has lots of rough edges, the job of the review is to point them out. If it later, sells very well despite its flaws, that doesn't make the review "wrong"."

    That's true. Or at least it should be. However, more and more reviewers these days feel the need to show-boat around with their witty remarks wrapped up in either gushing infatuation or straight out venom for a game. The result is a review (or preview) that's so biased it's impossible to tell a good game with some bugs from the real stinkers.

    Dan Whitehead's review was frankly shit with more holes than the swiss cheese! Opinion is one thing, but his review was flat out incompetent.

    For example... "Each has their own nominal speciality - blades, melee, firearms and throwing - but in gameplay terms the difference is minor. Each has their own "Fury" attack, activated by accumulating hits against enemies, but otherwise there's no discernible advantage." - This is rubbish. The characters have very distinct advantages and these are reflected in very specific skills. Yes, no one character is penalised for using a particular weapon set but characters who stick to their specialisations gain massive advantages. I have 3 separate characters on the go and they all play very differently.

  • Hindle #42 8 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • RawNinjaKid #43 8 months ago

    Great to see Star Fox 3D still there.

    4 PS3 exclusives in the Top 40 against 1 for the Xbox!

    4 for the wii!



    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 19/09/11 @ 15:57

  • JHo #44 8 months ago

    I've logged over twenty hours in Dead Island and have only completed 38% of the main story. Playing with the Chinese girl and am currently level 27. There are sooo many side quests it's borderline overwhelming! It's taking me so long because I'm trying to kill EVERY zombie I encounter for the experience points. This get's very difficult once in the city in my opinion. Some of the quests are genuinely different and refreshing (climbing rooftops to turn on loudspeakers telling survivors to go to the Church for example.) What a great game.

    EDIT: By the way, I'm playing on the 360 and honest to God haven't encountered ANY bugs or glitches. Well, you can't use Molotov's on escort missions cause whoever you're trying to protect always runs directly into the fire to "help out." LOL!! Excellent framerate as well.
    Edited by JHo at 19/09/11 @ 16:07

  • JHo #45 8 months ago

    Holy shit!! Just started Dead Island up again and I'm actually at 35 hours and 38%!! Unemployed right now but start my new job next Monday...lol. Back to the Island...

  • Battlegoff #46 8 months ago

    Would love to see Dead Island at number 1 when Modern Warfare 3 is released :D

  • MDL199 #47 8 months ago

    spacedelete - what a sad person you are!

    Resistance 3 is doing ok and it deserves too as it's a belter of a game.

  • TudeScud #48 8 months ago

    Black Ops got bagged on by some reviewers too, but of course, it's got sales records. Dan reviewed as he saw fit, and I didn't detect blatant inaccuracies, that you find often in well-received reviews. I have problems with the review industry in general though, as they rarely give a game the time it deserves and the push for early reviews really sets everything askew.

    As far as Resistance sales go, I hope to avoid it and other Sony titles in the future for hopping on the code locked multiplayer trend.