European Gaming Market Sees Mixed Results in September

- European video game sales decline by 10% year-over-year, with console sales down 20% and accessories down 7% - FIFA 23 launch sales exceed those of FIFA 22 by 6% - Console sales experience significant growth over August, driven by Nintendo Switch demand According to recent data from GSD, 14.4 million video games were sold across Europe in September, representing a 10% decline from the previous year. Digital downloads accounted for 8.57 million sales, a 13.8% decrease, while physical sales totaled 5.82 million, down 3.7%. FIFA 23 emerged as the top-selling game of the month, with sales up 6% compared to FIFA 22's launch. NBA 2K23 followed, with sales increasing by 10.5% over the previous year's version. Splatoon 3 took third place, despite Nintendo not releasing digital sales figures, which would have likely placed it second. The Nintendo Switch led console sales across tracked European markets, with a 11% increase over August, driven by the release of Splatoon 3. PS5 sales rose by 28%, while Xbox Series console sales nearly doubled from August. Accessories sales reached 1.44 million, a 7% decline from September 2021, but a 22% increase over August. The PS5 DualSense controller remained the top-selling accessory, followed by the PS4 DualSense pad. The PS5 Pulse 3D headset ranked fifth. Wallet and points card sales totaled 1.93 million, down 6.1% from the same period in 2021, but up 8.5% over August. * Digital data not available for certain companies GSD's digital data encompasses sales from participating companies, including Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop. Key participants include major game publishers, with Nintendo and 505 Games being notable exceptions. Digital sales data covers Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Physical sales data includes all games sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Console hardware sales cover Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, while accessories sales cover the same markets, excluding Switzerland.