As every year, many balance sheets and other analyzes fall between April and May. The perfect opportunity to take the temperature of players in the video game industry and their performance. Today, GSD (Games Sales Data) is back with the latest European sales data for games, consoles and external hardware.
PlayStation dominates this beginning of the year against Xbox in terms of sales in Europe
According the latest data from GSD, 13.6 million games for PC and consoles were sold in Europe in March 2023, a decrease of 4% compared to the same period in 2022. For the first quarter of the year, 39 million games were sold, which represents a drop of 11% compared to last year. This decline is attributed to the fact that there have been fewer big video game releases this year, unlike last year when titles such as Elden Ring, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Horizon: Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 have had great success.
Despite the general decline in game sales, Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game of the quarter, even surpassing the FIFA franchise in terms of quick sales since the GSD ratings began in 2017. However, Resident Evil 4 Remake took the lead. first place in March after only two weeks on the market. Sales of Resident Evil 4 were lower than Resident Evil Village in 2021 and Resident Evil 2 Remake in 2019, but up 57% from Resident Evil 3 Remake in 2020.
March also saw the release of WWE 2K23, which ranked #8. The wrestling game’s initial sales are down 28% from WWE 2K22. However, given that last year’s game followed a long hiatus from the series, this drop could be due to additional demand during its initial launch.
Finally, the video game console market experienced significant growth in March, with a 67% increase in console hardware sales in some European countries. This increase is mainly due to the massive sales of the PS5, which increased fivefold compared to the previous year. These fine performances are due in particular to the low stocks of PS5s from last year, which explains this major jump from Sony. The console is a hit all the same and it is the best-selling console in Europe in the first quarter.
Switch sales are down 19% across all markets compared to March 2022, while Xbox Series S and X sales are down 13%. As for accessories, 1.5 million complementary products were sold across all markets, an increase of 13% compared to the previous year. The PS5 DualSense controller is the best-selling product.
