The UK has become the largest gaming market in Europe, with FIFA and Call of Duty the best-selling games.
According to the latest data from GSD, 159 million console and PC games were sold in European markets in 2022, which is 7.1% less than the year before. 82.5 million games were sold through digital stores, with the remaining 76.6 million through brick-and-mortar retailers.
Sales of games released in 2022 increased by 16% in comparison with similar data of the previous year. Sales of FIFA 23 were 3% higher than last year’s FIFA 22, and sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were up almost 73% compared to Call of Duty: Vanguard.
64% of sales were made through digital stores compared to 65% in 2021.
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Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto V, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and three PlayStation exclusives: God of War Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 also made the top ten sales. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe was the most popular Switch game at 11th, while Nintendo Switch Sports came in at 13th.
The UK has become the #1 gaming market in Europe in 2022 (game sales down 6% compared to last year), followed by Germany (game sales down 13%), followed by France (game sales down 3%), Spain (up 1%) and Italy (up 2%).
FIFA, Call of Duty, LEGO Star Wars and Elden Ring were the best sellers in the UK market. While in German and French, Nintendo Switch games like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, Nintendo Switch Sports and Pokemon Violet/Scarlet felt better.
FIFA 23 was the best-selling game in most major marketsonly with a few exceptions (for example, Elden Ring was #1 in Finland).
20 Most Popular Games in Europe in 2022 (Digital and Physical Stores)
10 Most Popular Games in Europe in 2022 (Physical Stores)
10 Most Popular Games in Europe in 2022 (Digital Stores)
Games that didn’t make the top 20 but are in the top 50 include NBA 2K23 (#23), It Takes Two (#26), Splatoon 3 (#27), WWE 2K22 (#32), Mario Strikers: Battle League Football (#34), Sonic Frontiers (#43), Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (#44), Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (#46), and Dying Light 2: Stay Human (#48).
As for console sales, well 5.3 million consoles were sold last year, which is 25% less than the year before. The Nintendo Switch was the #1 console despite a 15% drop in sales compared to last year. The PS5 took second place (sales down 35%), while the Xbox Series S and X consoles were the only platforms to report a year-over-year increase in sales (up 4.4%), but they are in third place.
The Switch was the #1 selling console in almost every country with a few exceptions. In Denmark and Sweden, the PS5 is the #1 console, while the Xbox Series S and X lead in Norway.
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For peripherals (including toys-to-life), sales fell 10% to 18 million products sold. The best-selling accessory was the PS5 DualSense controller (sales up 12% year-over-year), followed by the PS4 DualShock controller (sales down 3.2%), Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers (sales down 23.7%) and the Xbox Series Wireless Controller (down by 32.2%). In 5th place is the Sony PS5 Pulse 3D headset, the sale of which fell by 3.6% compared to 2021.
In 2022, 22.4 million accessories were sold in European marketsWhich is 8% less than in the previous year.
The list of countries, games and companies tracked for analysis can be viewed on the Gamesindustry website.
Previously, Data.ai published a report that in 2022, users worldwide spent only $110 billion on mobile games (down 5% from 2021), but the number of first-time installs increased by 8% to a record 90 billion, led by so-called “hypercasual” games.
Faced with economic hardships such as rising prices and credit costs, people are cutting back on purchases at their own discretion. And, as it turned out, it was the games that came under special pressure. According to a July report by Ampere Analysis, global sales of games (for consoles and PC) and services in 2022 also declined by 1.2% compared to last year to $188 billion.
In 2022, global spending on mobile games fell by 5% to $110 billion. The reason is excessive “frugality” of players caused by inflation
