Though somewhat marred by a midnight release rife with connection issues and trolls blocking player progress, Ubisoft's "The Division" has taken the world by storm. The blockbuster FPS has done particularly well in the UK, so much so that it took the No.1 spot on the regional sales chart for the week ending in March 12.
In fact, "The Division" is now the biggest game ever to have gone on sale during the first quarter of any year, surpassing the previous record set by "Gran Turismo 4" on the PlayStation 2 in 2005.
The record was disclosed by retail researcher Chart-Track, which said, "'The Division' breaks an 11 year record held by 'Gran Turismo 4' [released in 2005], outselling any other title released in the first three months of the year."
Though momentous in its own right, the sales were still behind "Watch Dogs" and "Assassin's Creed 3," making "The Division" the third bestselling Ubisoft game on release in the UK.
Specifically, PlayStation 4 accounted for 54 percent of console sales, while Xbox One accounted for the rest. Many note that this unusually close split is likely due to Microsoft's exclusive deal with Ubisoft allowing Xbox One players to get early access to new levels that will be released through DLC.
Ubisoft did quite well as a whole in that week, with "Far Cry: Primal" taking the No.2 spot and "Rainbow Six: Siege" taking No. 10.
Here's the list (table doesn't include digital sales data):
1. Tom Clancy's "The Division"
2. "Far Cry: Primal"
3. "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3"
4. "FIFA 16"
5. "Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2"
6. "Lego Marvel Avengers"
7. "Grand Theft Auto V"
8. "Forza Motorsport 6"
9. "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD"
10. "Rainbow Six: Siege"
In related news, "The Division" did exceedingly well worldwide, selling more copies in its first 24 hours than any other new Ubisoft game to date.
"The launch of 'The Division' is a tremendous achievement for Ubisoft, and demonstrates our unrivalled capacity to create fantastic new game brands and transform them into entertainment blockbusters," Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft's co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. "This is a momentous day for Ubisoft, but more importantly it marks the start of millions of players' enduring engagement in 'The Division's' game world, which we are confident they will love."
