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European game sales up slightly in December | European Monthly Charts
PS5 sales up 66% in Europe during December
www.gamesindustry.biz
European game sales up slightly in December | European Monthly Charts
PS5 sales up 66% in Europe during December
www.gamesindustry.biz
European game sales up slightly in December | European Monthly Charts
EA Sports FC24 takes No.1 ahead of Call of Duty and PS5 sales remain strong
Data by Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B
Published on Jan. 16, 2024
26.6 million PC and Console games were sold across Europe in December, according to the latest GSD data.
December 2022 was a 'five week month', so if we align the weeks, we can see that sales improved 3.6% compared with the same period in 2022.
This data covers all physical game releases in major European markets, and digital game sales from most major publishers.
Video game sales up 1.7% in Europe during 2023 | European Annual Report
Read more on GamesIndustry.biz
EA Sports FC24 led the way in December by a considerable margin. However, sales are down 11.5% compared with what FIFA 23 managed in December 2022. There was a football World Cup during the period in 2022, which explains the sales drop.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 falls to No.2 in its second month. Although the game's oveall performance is below the level of previous Call of Duty releases, it remains a major seller across Europe. The Activision Blizzard game stays ahead of Hogwarts Legacy, with the Harry Potter spin-off enjoying its biggest month of sales outside of its initial launch month in February.
Another game that enjoyed a bumper month was Super Mario Bros Wonder. Sales are down very slightly over November, but the Switch exclusive has been a consistent seller since its launch in October.
The new release in the chart is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, which debuts at No.6. As a point of comparison, its sales are about half of what Assassin's Creed Mirage -- Ubisoft's other big Q4 game managed in October. The game's success will depend on how it performs over time.
Over in the hardware space, 1.27 million consoles were sold across tracked European markets during December, which is nearly 16% up over the same four-week period in 2022. This was driven by PS5, which saw sales grow nearly 66% year-on-year. Nintendo Switch had to settle for No.2 spot this year, with sales down 7% compared with December 2022. Xbox Series S and X remains third, with sales down more than 19% year-on-year.
In terms of accessories and other add-on products, 3.5 million products were sold across tracked markets in December, which is 11% up over the same period the year before.
European GSD December 2023 Top 10 (Digital + Physical)
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | EA Sports FC 24 (EA) |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard) |
| 3 | Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros) |
| 4 | Super Mario Bros Wonder (Nintendo)* |
| 5 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) |
| 6 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Ubisoft) |
| 7 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) |
| 8 | Spider-Man 2 (Sony) |
| 9 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)* |
| 10 | Assassin's Creed Mirage (Ubisoft) |
*Digital data unavailable
Update: Annual 2023 report out now
Video game sales up 1.7% in Europe during 2023 | European Annual Report
Small growth for game sales across Europe, but console sales up significantly due to PS5
www.gamesindustry.biz
Video game sales up 1.7% in Europe during 2023 | European Annual Report
But console sales up nearly 42% over the year before; Big sales for PS5 and Hogwarts Legacy
Data by Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B
Published on Jan. 16, 2024
182 million PC and console games were sold across Europe in 2023, a rise of 1.7% over the year before.
This is based on GSD data, which tracks all physical game sales across major European markets, and digital sales from most major games publishers across every country in Europe.
European game sales up slightly in December | European Monthly Charts
Read more on GamesIndustry.biz
As usual, EA's football game leads the sales by a comfortable margin. EA Sports FC 24 sold 9% fewer units in 2023 compared with FIFA 23 in 2022, but when you factor in the rebrand and the fact there was a World Cup in December 2022, it's not particularly unexpected. EA Sports FC 24's sales remain ahead of what the FIFA franchise was pulling in pre-pandemic.
In second place is Hogwarts Legacy, and Warner Bros' game has been a massive hit across Europe. In fact, outside of EA football games, no game has sold this many units in a calendar year since these charts began back in 2017.
It was a disappointing year for the new Call of Duty, which unusually didn't make the Top Three this year. Modern Warfare 3' sales are down 32% for the year compared with what 2022's Modern Warfare 2 managed (although it's worth noting that Modern Warfare 2 did launch slightly earlier in the year).
Another Activision Blizzard title makes No.6 in the form of Diablo 4, while Nintendo Switch exclusives The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros Wonder both chart well at No.7 and No.9 respectively. Both games may have reached higher in the charts, but Nintendo doesn't share digital data with the charts company, so this placement is based on their physical sales alone.
If we just look at the physical chart, Zelda comes in at No.3 and Mario at No.4. Rounding off the Top Ten was Spider-Man 2 at No.10.
It was another strong year for Rockstar, with GTA 5 at No.5 (sales only down 1% over the year before) and Red Dead Redemption 2 at No.8 (with sales up 19% over the year before).
Other new games in the Top 20 include Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at No.11, Assassin's Creed Mirage at No.12, F1 23 at No.15, and Resident Evil 4 Remake at No.17.
Within the Top 100, there's Dead Space Remake (No.30), Final Fantasy 16 (No.32), NBA 2K24 (No.33), Dead Island 2 (No.35), Starfield (No.37), The Crew Motorfest (No.38), WWE 2K23 (No.42), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (No.48), Mortal Kombat 1 (No.53), Just Dance 2024 (No.82), EA Sports UFC 5 (No.97) and Street Fighter 6 (No.98).
34% of all games sold in 2023 were titles released the same year, a slight drop on the 35% reported in 2022.
In terms of platforms, PC was No.1 in terms of game sales, ahead of PS5 (No.2), Switch (No.3), PS4 (No.4) and Xbox Series S and X (No.5). Out of those five, Switch and PS4 were the only platforms to post a drop in game sales year-on-year.
The biggest European market for games remains the UK, ahead of Germany (No.2), France (No.3), Spain (No.4) and Italy (No.5).
PlayStation 5 sales surged 177% across Europe
Across tracked European markets, 7.4 million video game consoles were sold in 2023, which is a rise of nearly 42% over the year before.
This is mostly due to the PS5, which saw a 177% increase in sales year-on-year. PS5 suffered severe stock issues during 2022.
PS5 was far and away the biggest console of the year. Nintendo Switch holds the No.2 spot, with sales dipping nearly 10% over the year before.
In third place is Xbox Series S and X, which saw sales drop nearly 18% over the year before.
Another platform that saw big growth was PlayStation 4. Again, this console was in short supply in 2022, and as a result sales are up 671% in 2023.
In terms of accessories, 20.5 million peripherals were sold in Europe last year, a rise of 9% year-on-year. The PS5 DualSense controller leads the pack, followed by Microsoft's Xbox Series Wireless controller.
European GSD 2023 Top 20 (Digital and Physical)
| Position | Title |
| 1 | EA Sports FC 24 (EA) |
| 2 | Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros) |
| 3 | FIFA 23 (EA) |
| 4 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard) |
| 5 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) |
| 6 | Diablo 4 (Activision Blizzard) |
| 7 | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)* |
| 8 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) |
| 9 | Super Mario Bros Wonder (Nintendo)* |
| 10 | Spider-Man 2 (Sony) |
| 11 | Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (EA) |
| 12 | Assassin's Creed Mirage (Ubisoft) |
| 13 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)* |
| 14 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision) |
| 15 | F1 23 (EA/Codemasters) |
| 16 | Nintendo Switch Sports* (Nintendo) |
| 17 | Resident Evil 4 Remake (Capcom) |
| 18 | God of War Ragnarok (Sony) |
| 19 | NBA 2K23 (2K Games) |
| 20 | It Takes Two (EA) |
*Digital data unavailable
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