UK Gaming Market Sees 8% Growth in September, Led by EA Sports FC 25 and Space Marine 2

The UK gaming market witnessed a notable increase of 8% in September, with 3.88 million PC and console games sold. This growth is attributed to the introduction of six new titles in the top ten rankings, as reported by GSD data. EA Sports FC 25 took the top spot, although its launch sales were 4.6% lower than the previous year's title. However, the premium early access edition performed better year-over-year. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 secured the second position, demonstrating a remarkable performance and becoming the third best-selling new game of the year. The Crew 2, a 2018 racing title from Ubisoft, saw a substantial surge in sales after being discounted to under £1. Star Wars Outlaws, also from Ubisoft, had a disappointing start and is currently tracking behind the launch of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Astro Bot from PlayStation rounded out the top five, with its first four weeks of sales exceeding those of 2021's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart by 24%. Other notable releases in September include NBA 2K25, which is tracking 14% behind last year's NBA title, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which posted sales 14% below those of 2019's Link's Awakening remake. However, it is essential to consider that these figures only account for physical sales. In terms of console sales, the PS5 was the top-selling console, followed by the Xbox Series S and X, and the Nintendo Switch. The PS5 All-Digital console had its second-best month, with over 126,000 consoles sold in the UK. As the year progresses, console sales are down 32% compared to 2023. The accessories market also saw significant activity, with over 743,000 products sold at UK retail, representing an 11% increase over the previous year. The Midnight Black DualSense controller was the top-selling accessory, while the DualSense Astro Bot limited edition controller made its debut at number ten. The PS5 Disc Drive also made a notable appearance, ranking 21st in terms of units sold but eighth in terms of revenue. The Playstation Portal Remote Player continues to be a top performer, ranking as the number one accessory by revenue for the first nine months of 2024. The GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via PC digital stores, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop, with major companies such as Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft contributing to the data.