Video game sales down!
Game news Video game sales down!
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Analysts had predicted it, GSD confirmed it for Europe: video games sold fewer video games in 2022 than in 2021. The declines are big, the reasons are many, but there are still winners, as certain results show.
GSD methodology
Data shared by GSD includes physical sales and dematerialization. As specified on the official websitePhysical sales data is based on results recorded in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, in England, Sweden and Switzerland.
Digital sales data comes from major online stores such as Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Nintendo eShop. While most of the biggest publishers on the market participated in the operation (Activision, Bandai, EA, Embracer, Microsoft, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, etc.), Nintendo was one of the few absent. That is, the GSD data only counts the physical sales of Nintendo games.
Summary
- 3 PlayStation 5 games in the top 10
- A console to entertain yourself?
3 PlayStation 5 games in the top 10
Launched in 2017 by ISFE, Game Sales Data (GSD) provides sales figures for games released in the EMEA region. Through the latter, reported by GamesIndustywhich we know more decline in video game sales – estimated at 7.1% – originally verified by the most reputable analyst firms in the industry.
First, there are predictable outcomes, such as the UK being a bigger market than Germany or France.. Germany saw sales decline by 13% over last year, compared to 6% for the UK and 3% for France. Spain and Italy have seen their game sales increase slightly (between 1% and 2%) compared to 2021. Unsurprisingly, best sellers are based on licenses such as FIFA 23, Call of Duty or Elden Ring, From Software titles that received Game of Thrones awards. the Year coveted at The Game Awards 2022.
According to figures combining physical sales and dematerialization (except for Nintendo works), EMEA’s top 10 best-selling games of 2022 welcome a PlayStation 3 exclusive with God of War: Ragnarok (#7), Horizon: Forbidden West (#9) and Gran Turismo 7 (#10). Pokémon: Arceus arrives in sixth place, a place Pokémon Scarlet/Purple could have if the sales of the two apps combined. There are no Xbox exclusives in the top 20 this year. 64% of sales (82.5 million) were made electronically, which was generally stable compared to last year’s report. In case you were wondering, yes, Grand Theft Auto V ranks well in the top 5 sales of 2022.
| Classification (physical + dematerialization) | game |
| 1 | FIFA 23 |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
| 3 | Elder Ring |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto 5 |
| 5 | FIFA 22 |
| 6 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus (physical sales only) |
| 7 | Ragnarok God of War |
| 8 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga |
| 9 | Horizon: Forbidden West |
| 10 | Gran Turismo 7 |
A console to entertain yourself?
In 2022, 159 million console and PC games were sold in the EMEA market, down 7.1% from the previous year. This general decline can be explained by major releases being delayed, by the unstable economic/geopolitical climate, and of course by suboptimal console availability. Thus, if we rely on the figures reported by GamesIndustry (which do not include Germany or the UK), 5.3 million consoles were sold in 2022, a decrease of 25% when we compare it to 2021. The most notable decrease came from the PlayStation 5 (-35%), followed by Nintendo Switch (-15%). Nonetheless, Nintendo’s hybrid remains the best-selling machine of 2022, just ahead of Sony’s hardware, which is therefore in second place. In third place, we find the Xbox Series X|S. Notably, Microsoft consoles were the only ones to record sales growth (+4.4%). This should please the American giant.
Despite the generally sluggish results, sales of new games are up 16% compared to new games released in 2021, as noted by GamesIndustry. Major annual franchises did hit harder than last year with FIFA 23 which saw its sales increase by 3% compared to FIFA 22 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which crushed Call of Duty: Vanguard’s numbers with an impressive 73% increase in sales. Pokémon Scarlet/Purple are also better (+13%) compared to the Diamond and Pearl remakes. What about the forecast for 2023? For now, analysts want reassurance. Although the effects of inflation may force some consumers to make choices, the coming year has some opportunities to expect good results, such as the release of highly anticipated games (Hogwarts Legacy: The Legacy of Hogwarts, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield, Diablo IV, Final Fantasy XVI, etc.) and the announced end of the PlayStation 5 shortage.
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