European Gaming Market Sees Strong October Sales with Assassin

According to recent data from GSD, the European gaming market saw a total of 10.21 million PC and console games sold in October, representing a slight decline of 2.3% compared to the same period last year. This data encompasses all digital game sales from major publishers across the Eurozone, as well as physical game sales in key Eurozone markets. The sales decrease is notable, given that Call of Duty was released in November this year, whereas it was released in October last year. Despite this, the European market only experienced a minor decline, thanks in part to the strong performance of EA Sports FC 24, which topped the charts for the second consecutive month. Sales of EA's football title were 10% lower than last year's FIFA 23, although this can be attributed to the brand name change and the fact that there was a winter World Cup last year, which generated significant excitement around the sport. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Mirage secured the second spot, narrowly beating Spider-Man 2, despite being on sale for two weeks longer. Mirage's first four weeks on the market saw sales 49% lower than Assassin's Creed Valhalla, although this was expected given that Mirage is a smaller, more classical take on the series. Compared to older Assassin's Creed games, Mirage sales are 22% higher than 2018's Odyssey and 6% higher than 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins. The PS5 game Spider-Man 2 had a strong launch, with sales up nearly 30% compared to 2018's Spider-Man, and almost three times higher than 2020's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. In comparison to last year's big PlayStation game, God of War Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2's sales are 28% lower, although this is due to the fact that God of War was also released on PS4. If we focus solely on PS5 sales, Spider-Man 2 outsold Ragnarok by 8% after two weeks. Super Mario Bros Wonder took the fourth spot, with launch sales double that of 2017's Super Mario Odyssey, 59% higher than 2020's Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and 53% higher than 2021's Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Other new releases in the charts for October include Lords of the Fallen, Metal Gear Sold: Master Collection Volume 1, EA Sports UFC 5, Detective Pikachu Returns, Sonic Superstars, and Forza Motorsport. In terms of individual countries, EA Sports FC 24 was the top-selling game in most markets, although the second spot varied. In France, Super Mario Bros Wonder took the second spot, while in Germany it was Assassin's Creed: Mirage, and in Italy and Spain, it was Spider-Man 2. The PS5 was the best-selling console in Europe, with sales up 143% compared to last October, driven by the availability of stock. The Nintendo Switch took the second spot, despite a 20% drop in sales, while Xbox Series S and X sales continued to struggle, down 52% year-on-year. A total of 481,000 consoles were sold across tracked markets in October. Compared to September, overall market sales are up nearly 16%, with PS5 sales up 11%, Switch sales up 10%, and Xbox sales down just under 20%. It's worth noting that Xbox's big exclusive of the year, Starfield, launched in September, while PlayStation and Nintendo's big games, Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros Wonder, launched in October. In terms of peripherals and accessories, 1.14 million products were sold across tracked markets, representing a decline of 3.6% year-on-year, while wallet/point card sales are down 4% to 969,818 units sold. The GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop, with major participating companies including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and more. Digital data includes games sold in various European countries, while physical data includes all games sold in key European markets. Console hardware sales cover several European countries, and accessories sales cover the same markets, excluding Switzerland.