European Video Game Sales Experience Slight Decline, Yet PS5 Drives Console Market Upward by 60%

The European video game market witnessed a modest performance in November, fueled by the success of Call of Duty, EA Sports FC 24, and the PlayStation 5. A total of 24.6 million video games were sold across tracked European markets, representing a 20% increase from the previous year. However, this growth is attributed to the fact that November 2023 had five weeks, whereas November 2022 had only four. When comparing the same four-week period, sales actually decreased by 2%. The primary driver of sales was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which, despite being the only notable new release for the month, managed to compensate for the absence of other major titles. In comparison to its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2, which launched in October of the previous year, Modern Warfare 3 experienced a 33% decline in sales during its first four weeks. Nevertheless, it remained the best-selling game of the month. EA Sports FC 24 witnessed a 3% increase in sales compared to FIFA 23 during the same five-week period, largely due to significant discounts offered during the Black Friday period. The second most successful new game of the month was Football Manager 2024, which ranked tenth in sales and narrowly fell short of its predecessor's sales during the same period. Super Mario RPG on Switch debuted at number 13, with its sales 13% lower than those of Paper Mario: The Origami King in 2020. The release of Hogwarts Legacy on Switch in November led to a 509% surge in sales, with the Switch version accounting for over half of the game's total sales for the month. Black Friday saw the sale of 7.8 million games, a minor decline of 1% from the previous year, with EA Sports FC 24, Call of Duty, and Hogwarts Legacy being the top-selling titles. In the console market, 1.3 million units of hardware were sold, representing a 59% increase year-over-year. This growth was primarily driven by the PlayStation 5, which experienced a 376% increase in sales and became the leading console for the month. The Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S and X followed, with sales declining by 35% and 26%, respectively. The accessories market saw the sale of 2.56 million units, with a 13.8% increase from the previous year, driven primarily by the popularity of the PS5 DualSense controller. The new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo and the PlayStation Portal accessory also debuted in the top ten. Digital data was unavailable, but the GSD digital data included games from major participating companies sold via various platforms, covering multiple European countries. Physical data included all games sold in select European countries, while console hardware sales covered a range of markets, excluding Germany and the UK.