European Game Sales Experience 11% Decline in Q1

Across Europe, the sale of 13.6 million PC and console games in March marked a minor 4% decrease from the same period in 2022. As a result, the total number of games sold in the first quarter of the year reached 39 million, representing an 11% decline compared to the previous year. According to the latest data from GSD, which tracks both physical and digital game sales across key European markets, Hogwarts Legacy emerged as the best-selling game of the quarter. It is also the fastest-selling game in Europe, excluding the FIFA franchise, since the GSD charts began in 2017. Despite this, the previous year saw a more significant number of major releases, including Elden Ring, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Turismo 7. In March, Resident Evil 4 took the top spot after just two weeks on sale, with its first two-week sales in Europe being 19% lower than Resident Evil Village in 2021 and 11% lower than the remake of Resident Evil 2 in 2019. However, it saw a 57% increase compared to the remake of Resident Evil 3 in 2020. Looking at recent horror game releases, Resident Evil 4's first two weeks showed a 149% increase compared to the remake of Dead Space, which was released in January. WWE 2K23, another new release in March, debuted at number eight, with its opening sales down 28% compared to WWE 2K22. Notably, there were no Nintendo games in the top ten for March, with Metroid Prime Remastered ranking at number eleven. Console hardware sales experienced a significant 67% increase to 570,000 units sold across selected European countries in March, driven primarily by strong PS5 sales. This surge offset declines in other areas, with Switch sales down 19% and Xbox Series S and X sales down 13% across the markets compared to March 2022. The first quarter of the year saw 1.5 million consoles sold, a 41% rise over the same period last year, with PS5 leading the market with a 369% year-on-year sales increase. Accessory sales also rose, with 1.5 million add-on products sold, a 13% increase over the previous year, and the PS5 DualSense Controller being the best-selling product. For the first quarter, 4.7 million accessories were sold, representing a 5% year-on-year increase. Finally, points cards and wallet sales saw a minor 1.9% drop in March 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.