There's no denying that "Spider-Man" was one of the most anticipated titles of 2018, and fans couldn't wait to get their hands on it as soon as it launched last Friday. However, there have been a number of big games released this year and it remained to be seen just how well "Spider-Man" would do when compared to other popular titles such as "God of War," "Sea of Thieves," and "The Crew 2." Despite being exclusive to the PS4, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has managed to beat them all.
Very strong sales
Nobody doubted that the game would enjoy strong sales, but there was no certainty that it would perform this well.
Prior to its release, "Far Cry 5" was the fastest-selling game of the year, but "Spider-Man" managed to narrowly beat it while also selling double the copies of the previous best-selling PS4 game, "God of War." It now holds the record as the fastest-selling Marvel branded game, beating 2013's "Lego Marvel Superheroes" by a large margin.
The UK charts
"Spider-Man" has swung into first place when it comes to the UK game charts, but how do other games fare? "Dragon Quest XL: Echoes of an Exclusive Age" makes its debut in second, while "Grand Theft Auto V" sits in third. "F1 2018" has dropped from first place and now sits in fourth, with "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" bringing up the rear in fifth.
Spider-Man vs Batman
Despite enjoying a very strong launch, "Spider-Man" hasn't managed to beat DC's Batman when it comes to fastest-selling superhero game. GFK Chart Tracks indicates 2015's "Batman: Arkham Knight" is still the fastest-selling superhero game of all time, according to UK figures, though it's worth noting that game was released on PS4, Xbox, and PC, whereas "Spider-Man" is only available on the PS4.
A year of great exclusives
PlayStation 4 gamers have enjoyed a year crammed full of high-quality exclusive games for the PS4. The year kicked off with the very well received "Shadow of the Colossus" remake and continued with the critically acclaimed "God of War" in April. David Cage's "Detroit: Become Human" launched in May and now we have "Spider-Man."
It's not over yet
"Spider-Man" may be the fastest-selling game of the year so far, according to Games Industry, but it remains to be seen as to whether or not he'll be able to keep his crown.
The next few months see the release of several highly anticipated titles, many of which are available on multiple platforms. Lara Croft returns later this month in "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" and October sees the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4," which is then followed by one of the most anticipated games of the year, "Red Dead Redemption 2." The wall-crawler will have to fight hard if he wants to stay on top this year.
