Destiny 2 physical sales down by half from Destiny 1

Destiny 2 is the new UK chart number one and the biggest game launch of 2017 so far - but physical sales were down by more than half compared to the launch of Destiny 1.

Sales numbers leaked to NeoGAF - which Eurogamer understands to be accurate - list Destiny 2 as having sold 175k physical copies during its UK launch week, compared to Destiny 1's total of 417k.

There are multiple reasons for this shortfall, though. Destiny 1 launched on a Tuesday (9th September 2014 to be exact), whereas Destiny 2 launched on a Wednesday (6th September 2017), so Destiny 1 had 24 hours' worth of sales more than Destiny 2 for this comparison.

Destiny 2 will likely have a much higher percentage of copies sold digitally than its predecessor, which launched three years ago, and UK numbers company Chart-Track does not track download sales. Many will have wanted to get the game pre-loaded for its midnight launch to begin grinding gear as quickly as possible.

Destiny 1 launched on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as PS4 and Xbox One, and those last-gen consoles accounted for around 75k copies. Some people will also likely be waiting for Destiny 2's PC launch next month.

Overall, Destiny 2 appears to have had a successful launch worldwide. Over the weekend, developer Bungie tweeted that 1.2m players were online at the same time:

58 per cent of physical sales were on PlayStation 4, where Sony has a marketing deal for the game and timed-exclusive extra content. 42 per cent of sales were on Xbox One. (The game's PC version doesn't turn up until next month.)

Fellow new release Knack 2 fared less well. It missed the top 10 entirely, and charted in 12th place.

Monster Hunter Stories for 3DS entered in 21st place, while The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ launched on Switch in 36th.

Lego Worlds also launched on Switch last week - and saw the game rise up the chart a couple of places to 14th.

The full top 10 lies below:

1. Destiny 2
2. Uncharted: Lost Legacy
3. Forza Horizon 3
4. GTA5
5. Fallout 4
6. Crash
7. F1 2017
8. Dishonored 2
9. Doom
10. Mario + Rabbids