Addicted to refreshing Twitter every thirty seconds? Reddit permanently sorted by “new”? Drawn to the latest gaming fads? Checkpoint’s got you covered. Take a look at this week’s ‘Top and Trending’ to see the best selling and most popular video games around, and find out what all the cool kids are talking about!
Top Selling Games in Australia
(19/07 – 25/07) Data sourced from IGEA
1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
4. F1 2021
5. FIFA 21
6. Red Dead Redemption 2
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
8. NBA 2K21
9. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
10. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
It’s back to old favourites this week, with Rockstar’s epic Grand Theft Auto V taking prime position on the Aussie trending charts, while last year’s beloved Call of Duty entry follows close behind. A recent content patch to the former, named the “Los Santos Tuners Update”, brings a suite of car-themed improvements to the Grand Theft Auto Online universe. Players can now access a social hub to show off their pimped-up vehicles, as well as numerous other tweaks to the auto-modding experience. Aside from the sales charts welcoming this update with open wallets, it has also led to the most amount of concurrent online players following a patch in the title’s eight-year history.
Elsewhere in the charts, the usual slew of sports, multiplayer, and open-world titles continue trending, with the recently released F1 2021 staying strong and inspiring motorheads nationwide.
Top Selling Games on Steam
(19/07 – 25/07) Data sourced from SteamDB
1. New World
2. New World
3. RimWorld – Ideology
4. F1 2021
5. Valve Index VR Kit (hardware)
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Red Dead Redemption 2
8. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
9. Death’s Door
10. Days Gone
Amazon’s upcoming MMO New World has been killing it in the charts this week, with buzz around its closed beta generating tonnes of hype for the title. Players keen to colonize fantasy-America are chomping at the bit to get stuck into New World when it launches at the end of August. The Ideology expansion for 2018’s popular colony sim RimWorld introduces belief systems to the titles, allowing players to alter their cast’s social roles and ideological frameworks. The wonderfully quirky Death’s Door has done well following its recent launch, receiving critical acclaim and decent sales alike. Elliot adored this morbid and beautiful title – check out his review here.
In VR Corner this week, Luke donned his two-toned shoes in ForeVR Bowl. An arcade ten-pin bowling sim, this title brings the bowling alley into your home and, thankfully, lets you avoid the indignity of always using the bumpers. Check out Luke’s thoughts here.
Most Watched Games on Twitch
(22/07 – 28/07) Data sourced from SullyGnome
1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. League of Legends
3. New World
4. VALORANT
5. Call of Duty: Warzone
6. Fortnite
7. Minecraft
8. Apex Legends
9. Pokemon Unite
10. CS: GO
With the twin titans of Twitch towering tall, it remains to be seen how significant the impact of upstart MMO New World will be on the cumulative watch hours of Grand Theft Auto V and League of Legends. This week, however, heralds the launch of a different beast: Pokémon Unite, the latest release in Nintendo’s ever-expanding series of monster-catching spinoffs. This title is made for the multiplayer-loving, competitively-obsessed Twitch viewing community. Taking its cues from other popular MOBAs, Unite brings a few fan favourite Pokémon into the battle arena and pits them against each other in the name of glory. This title launched on Switch last week, with plans for a mobile release forthcoming.
Don’t forget to take a look at all the games Coming Out this week, and let us know what your predictions are for next week’s top and trending!
About the Author
David McNamara
he/him or they/them
David is a proudly queer performing artist and software developer. He spends most of his downtime with a controller in his hands and a lazy beagle on his lap.
