Hogwarts Legacy and PS5 Saved European Gaming Market
In the first quarter of this year, Hogwarts Legacy saved the European game market from huge declines. The PlayStation 5, on the other hand, was the only console whose sales increased in the past months.
Analytics group GSD has released a report summarizing the results of the European video game market (excluding the UK) for March this year and the entire first quarter of 2023.
- In the third month of 2023, 13.6 million copies of PC and console games were sold in Europe. This figure includes both boxed and digital releases. This figure is 4% lower than in March 2022.
- In contrast results for the entire first quarter of 2023 are 39 million games sold, down 11% from the same period last year.
- The drop in sales would have been much greater had it not been for the great success of Hogwarts Legacy. It is the biggest bestseller of the first quarter of 2023 in Europe.
- Not counting the FIFA series, Hogwarts Legacy is also the fastest-selling game ever included in GDS data (the group's reports have been published since 2017).
- Even as big a hit as Hogwarts Legacy wasn't enough to avoid declines in the European market, however. This is because the first quarter of 2022 was exceptionally full of big launches: Elden Ring, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Horizon: Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7.
March 2023 game sales in the EU
Which game ruled in March in Europe? Hogwarts Legacy is this year's biggest bestseller, but in March Resident Evil 4 was the undefeated leader, which is all the more impressive given that the game was released at the end of the month.
- The game showed who is the king of the survival horror genre. Remake of RE4 is in fact selling 149% faster than this year's Dead Space.
- On the other hand, WWE 2K23 is doing average, selling 28% worse than last year's installment of the series.
- Analysts point out, however, that WWE 2K22 was the first new installment of the series since 2019, which significantly boosted interest in the game.
Nintendo games did not appear in the top ten. Metroid Prime Remastered found itself only on the 11th spot. Here, however, it's worth bearing in mind that the digital version of the game was released in February (only the boxed edition debuted in March), and Nintendo does not share the results of such sales with the GDS, so it's impossible to really know how well the game did.
- Hogwarts Legacy Review: Bewitchingly Enchanting
- Hogwarts Legacy - game guide
- Resident Evil 4 Remake Review: Survival Horror Perfected
- Resident Evil 4 Remake - game guide
Top 10 bestsellers in March in Europe (boxes plus digital editions)
# | Game |
1. | Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) |
2. | WWE 2K23 (Warner Bros.) |
3. | FIFA 23 (EA) |
4. | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) |
5. | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard) |
6. | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) |
7. | WWE 2K23 (2K Games) |
8. | F1 22 (EA) |
9. | NBA 2K23 (2K Games) |
10. | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft) |
Console sales results in March 2023 in Europe
How did the consoles perform? The situation looks much better in terms of hardware. Namely, in March, console sales in Europe increased by 67%, to 570,000 units.
- Such a big jump is due to increased interest in the PlayStation 5. In this regard, GDS has access to data from eight countries (France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Portugal) and in these markets PS5 sales were five times higher than in March 2022. This is due to the fact that in the third month of last year there were serious problems with the availability of Sony's console.
- Other manufacturers fared worse. Sales of the Nintendo Switch declined by 19%, and Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X consoles declined by 13%.
Data sources:
GDS digital data includes games purchased via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Nintendo eShop.
Major companies that provide data include Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group (including Gearbox, Koch Media, Sabre Interactive), Focus Entertainment, Konami, Marvellous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Instead, GDS does not receive data from Nintendo and 505 Games, as well as from many small development studios.
Digital data includes games sold in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Box sales data includes only games sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Console hardware sales data includes Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Accessory sales include the same markets, but exclude Switzerland.
