European Gaming Market Sees Decline in May, with EA Sports FC 24 and GTA 5 Leading the Charts

The European gaming market experienced a significant decline in May, with a total of 11.6 million PC and console games sold, representing a 17% drop compared to the same period in 2023. This data is based on GSD figures, which track digital game sales from major publishers, excluding Nintendo, and physical game sales in key European markets. The main reason for this decline is attributed to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May 2023, which was a massive hit, with sales surpassing the entire top 10 games in May 2024. Additionally, the release of Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One also contributed to the strong performance last year. In May this year, EA Sports FC 24 took the top spot, followed by Grand Theft Auto 5, and F1 2024 secured the third position, despite launching two weeks earlier than last year. However, the Codemasters game had a slow start, with launch sales down 35% compared to the previous year. The PC release of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut propelled the PlayStation game to fourth place, while Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door debuted at number five. It's worth noting that Nintendo does not share digital sales data, so the actual ranking may be higher. A comparison with similar games reveals that the new Paper Mario's sales are down 8% compared to the opening two weeks of last year's Super Mario RPG and 8.5% lower than 2020's Paper Mario: The Origami King. Homeworld 3 was the only other new game to break into the top 100, at number 76. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order re-entered the top 10 due to Star Wars-related pricing activity. Console sales saw a sharp decline, with 311,000 units sold in May, a 40% drop from the same period last year. All console platforms experienced a significant drop, with the Nintendo Switch suffering the most. Accessory sales also fell by 25% over the same five-week period, led by the DualSense controller, which saw a year-over-year sales increase. The GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop, with major companies like Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, and Electronic Arts contributing. Digital data covers games sold in various European countries, including Austria, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Physical data includes all games sold in key European markets, while console hardware sales and accessories cover specific markets, excluding Switzerland for accessories.