European Gaming Market Sees Minimal Decline of 1.6% in First Half of 2024

According to GSD data, nearly 80 million PC and console games were sold across Europe during the first six months of 2024. This represents a mere 1.6% decline in unit sales compared to the same period in 2023, which is a notable achievement considering the weaker release slate this year. The first half of 2023 saw significant releases such as Hogwarts Legacy, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. In contrast, only two games released in 2024 have made it to the top ten best-selling games of the year so far: Helldivers 2 at number two and The Last of Us: Part 2 Remastered at number ten. It is worth noting that Palworld data is missing, which would likely have been a significant contributor to sales. Many of these games had lower selling prices compared to last year's AAA releases, resulting in a more substantial revenue decline. Specifically, in the UK market, ERA reports a 30% drop in game revenue during the first half of the year. Looking at European game sales in June, 11.3 million video games were sold, representing a 19% decline. June last year saw significant releases like Diablo 4 and Final Fantasy 16, whereas this year had no major standalone releases. However, there is a positive comparison with June last year in the form of the football game. EA Sports FC24 was the top-selling game in June, with sales 7% higher than FIFA 24 during the same period. This year's game benefited from the European Championships, which took place in Germany throughout June and July. Elden Ring jumped to second place, experiencing a massive sales increase due to its new DLC: Shadow of the Erdtree. The base game's sales surged 454% month-over-month. The highest charting new game was Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, which narrowly missed being the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game this year by just 4,000 units. It was outsold by Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door but surpassed Princess Peach Showtime and Mario vs Donkey Kong. In terms of launch sales, it achieved nearly a third of what Luigi's Mansion 3 accomplished during its opening week in 2019. GSD data tracks physical sales in major European markets and digital sales from most major publishers. Notably, Nintendo is the biggest missing company from the digital data. The console market is struggling with tough comparisons. Across tracked markets, just over 300,000 games consoles were sold in June, a 24% decline compared to the same period in 2023. All three platforms saw a decline, although PS5 was the most resilient with a 10% year-over-year sales drop in June. For the first six months of the year, the console hardware market declined 24% with 2.2 million units sold. PS5 saw a 16% decline, Switch a 32% decline, and Xbox Series S and X a 37% decline. The console market is struggling due to strong 2023 numbers, a weaker software lineup, and the aging Nintendo Switch platform. In terms of accessories and peripherals, 1.1 million products were sold across tracked European markets in June, a 7.3% decline compared to the same period in 2023. The market was boosted by the DualSense controller, which was discounted at retail during the month. For the first six months of the year, eight million accessories were sold, an 8.4% decline over 2023. The top ten best-selling games in Europe for the first half of 2024 include EA Sports FC 24, Helldivers 2, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Hogwarts Legacy. The top ten best-selling games in June include EA Sports FC 24, Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Sid Meier's Civilization VI. GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop. Major participating companies include Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Electronic Arts. Digital data includes games sold in various European countries, while physical data includes all games sold in specific European markets. Console hardware sales cover several European countries, and accessories sales cover the same markets, excluding Switzerland.