Red Dead Redemption 2 second biggest UK physical launch of the year

Red Dead Redemption 2 launched last Friday to predictably impressive physical sales, becoming the second biggest launch of 2018 so far - behind FIFA 19.

It's been eight years since Red Dead Redemption 1 launched - and in that time Rockstar's Western series has become a household name. Its no surprise, then, that RDR2 doubled the week one sales of its predecessor.

And that is, of course, without any digital sales counted - include those, and it will have outsold RDR1 even more.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the biggest launch for any PlayStation 4 or Xbox One game that is not a FIFA or Call of Duty. RDR2 has also beaten several recent Call of Duty launches - including last year's WW2 and this year's Black Ops 4.

But Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar's last game, sold two million copies in its original launch week - a number RDR2 does not get close to troubling.

68 per cent of RDR2 copies were sold on PlayStation 4, where the console's timed-exclusive bits and pieces launch first - despite the game looking best on Xbox One X.

Other new releases last week included Paw Patrol on a Roll (17th place), Nickelodeon Kart Racers (21st), My Hero One's Justice (23rd) and Just Dance 2019 (24th).

The full top 10 lies below:

• Red Dead Redemption 2
• COD BLOPS 4
• FIFA 19
• Forza Horizon 4
• Assassin's Creed Orangey
• Spider-Man
• Lego DC Super-Villains
• Super Mario Party
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Crash Trilogy

Away from the glitz of its sales, last week I reported on the human cost of Red Dead Redemption 2, with stories from behind the scenes of its development.