According to the latest GSD data, sales of console and PC games have struggled across Europe over the past month.
27.4 million games followed were sold in European markets in December, down 13% year-on-year.
11.4 million of those sales were digital (down 17% year-over-year), while almost 16 million were physical sales (down just over 10%).
FIFA 23 was by far the best-selling game of the month, ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, if sales of Pokémon Violet and Scarlet were combined, this game would have been number 2 (despite the fact that Nintendo doesn’t share this) . digital data).
FIFA’s December sales are up 5% yoy, possibly helped by the World Cup. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 December sales are up nearly 6% compared to Call of Duty: Vanguard in December 2021 (note: Call of Duty launched earlier this year). December sales of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are 5% higher than sales of Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl for the same period last year.
The games that dragged the overall market down were legacy titles like GTA 5 and Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, both of which fell drastically compared to December of last year. Meanwhile, key titles like F1 and Just Dance haven’t performed as strongly this year as they did last Christmas.
New releases in December didn’t fare particularly well either. The highest-ranked release of the month was Need for Speed: Unbound at #12, followed by Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion at #21. Callisto Protocol makes #22, but it probably would have landed in the top 20 since digital Sales for this game are not included.
Switch comes out on top, but a tough month for consoles
1.33 million game consoles were sold in the tracked European markets, down 19% year-on-year (data for UK and Germany are not available. For UK hardware statistics click here).
This was due to a sharp decline in Xbox Series S and X and Nintendo Switch sales. PS5 sales also fell, but only slightly (down 3.4%).
However, Switch was still comfortably the #1 best-selling gaming machine across Europe. PS5 stock issues are starting to ease, although there were still some delivery issues throughout the month.
In terms of accessories and toys-to-life products, 3.66 million add-on products were sold in the markets tracked, down 9% year-on-year. The market was led by the PS5 DualSense Controller, which saw sales growth of 5% compared to December 2021.
European GSD December 2022 Top 20 (Digital + Physical)
| position | title |
|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 23 (EA) |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard) |
| 3 | God of War (Ragnarok) |
| 4 | Pokémon Violet (Nintendo)* |
| 5 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft) |
| 6 | Nintendo Switch Sport (Nintendo)* |
| 7 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)* |
| 8th | Pokemon Scarlet (Nintendo)* |
| 9 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) |
| 10 | Just Dance 2023 (Ubisoft) |
| 11 | Elden Ring (Bandai Namco) |
| 12 | eed for Speed Unbound (EA) |
| 13 | NBA 2K23 (2K Games) |
| 14 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft) |
| fifteen | Sonic Frontiers (Sega) |
| 16 | Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Mojang/Nintendo) |
| 17 | Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft) |
| 18 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Warner Bros.) |
| 19 | Gran Turismo 7 (Sony) |
| 20 | Splatoon 3 (Nintendo)* |
* Digital data not available
GSD Digital Data includes games from participating companies sold through Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Nintendo Eshop. The main participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group (including Gearbox, Koch Media, Saber Interactive), Focus Entertainment, Konami, Marvelous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon , Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the most notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.
Digital Data includes games published in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Romania are sold, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Physical data includes all games but only those sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Console hardware sales include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Accessory sales cover the same markets but do not include Switzerland.