European Game Sales Experience 11% Decline in Q1 | Monthly European Charts

The European gaming market witnessed a slight downturn in March, with 13.6 million PC and console games sold, representing a 4% decrease from the same period in 2022. This translates to 39 million games sold in the first quarter, marking an 11% decline from the previous year, according to the latest data from GSD, which tracks physical game sales across major European markets and digital downloads from prominent publishers. Hogwarts Legacy emerged as the best-selling game of the quarter, achieving the fastest sales in Europe outside of the FIFA franchise since the GSD charts began in 2017. Notably, last year saw a more extensive lineup of significant releases, including Elden Ring, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Turismo 7. Although Hogwarts Legacy led the quarter, Resident Evil 4 claimed the top spot in March, with Capcom's horror remake reaching the top after just two weeks on sale. In comparison, Resident Evil 4's initial two-week sales in Europe were 19% lower than those of Resident Evil Village in 2021 and 11% lower than the remake of Resident Evil 2 in 2019, but 57% higher than the remake of Resident Evil 3 in 2020. Moreover, Resident Evil 4's first two weeks outperformed the remake of Dead Space, released in January, by 149%. WWE 2K23, another new release in March, secured the eighth position, with its opening sales 28% lower than those of WWE 2K22. The absence of Nintendo games in the top ten is noteworthy, with Metroid Prime Remastered being the highest-charting title at number eleven, although its true performance is difficult to gauge due to its initial digital release in February. The surge in console hardware sales, driven primarily by the PS5, led to a 67% increase to 570,000 units sold across selected European countries in March. This surge offset declines in other areas, with Switch sales down 19% and Xbox Series S and X sales down 13% compared to March 2022. For the first quarter, 1.5 million consoles were sold, representing a 41% increase over the same period last year, with the PS5 leading the market with a 369% year-over-year sales rise. The accessories market also saw growth, with 1.5 million add-on products sold, a 13% increase from the previous year, primarily due to improved console hardware sales. The best-selling accessory was the PS5 DualSense Controller. In the first quarter, 4.7 million accessories were sold, marking a 5% year-over-year increase. Points cards and wallets experienced a 1.9% decline in sales in March 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. The GSD digital data encompasses games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop, with major participants including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, and Sony, among others. Digital data covers games sold in various European countries, while physical data includes all games sold in specific markets. Console hardware sales are tracked in several countries, and accessories sales cover the same markets, excluding Switzerland.