UK Gaming Market Sees Uptick in October, Led by Call of Duty and New Releases

The UK gaming market witnessed a 3.2% increase in video game sales during October, with 2.9 million units sold. According to GSD, the month's top performer was Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, despite its launch sales being 11% lower compared to the previous year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. However, when focusing solely on PlayStation sales, where Game Pass is not available, premium sales saw a 24% year-over-year increase. The game's sales were predominantly on PlayStation platforms, accounting for nearly 75% of total sales, followed by PC at 15%, and Xbox at just under 11%. EA Sports FC 25 secured the second spot, with sales 14% lower than the previous year's version. Dragon Ball: Sparkling! Zero debuted at number three, achieving an 80% increase in sales over the previous best, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Undisputed followed closely, outperforming other notable sports games and even the fighting game Tekken 8. Silent Hill 2's remake saw a solid launch, although its sales were 32% lower than the Dead Space remake and 62% lower than the Resident Evil 4 remake. Other new releases included Super Mario Party Jamboree, which saw an 11% increase in sales over 2018's Super Mario Party, and Sonic X Shadows Generations, which performed better than last year's 2D entry Sonic Superstars but was down 21% over the launch of 2022's Sonic Frontiers. In terms of hardware, console sales rose 14% month-over-month but were down 18% year-over-year, with PS5 sales increasing 27% month-over-month but decreasing 18% year-over-year, and Switch sales rising 13% month-over-month but dropping 18% year-over-year. The accessories market saw 681,000 units sold, down 8% from September but up 16% year-over-year, with PlayStation controllers dominating the top spots.