GSD & GfK: The European Gaming Market Actually Grew in February 2024
But it depends on how you calculate numbers
Analytical platforms report only actual sales figures obtained directly from partners. The mobile segment is also not taken into account.
Game Sales
In February of this year, 16.74 million games were sold on PC and consoles in Europe. In fact, this is a growth of 21.2% compared to February 2023, but this year February had 5 weeks of sales. Comparing equivalent periods, game sales in 2024 dropped by 0.1%.
In February of last year, Hogwarts Legacy was released; its sales in just 5 weeks after release were higher than the sales of the entire top 10 games in February 2024.
It is worth noting that Palworld is not included in sales figures. Therefore, February 2024 could have been better than February 2023.
Helldivers II was the top hit of the month. 56% of the project's sales came from PC. The project has an interesting sales dynamic, quite atypical for a paid game. In the second week, it sold 70% better than the first. And in the third week, it sold 3% better than the second. Only in the fourth week did sales drop by 28% compared to the third week.
For most paid projects, sales in the second week are 60-80% lower than in the first.
Helldivers II sales for the first 4 weeks are only 5% behind Marvel’s Spider-Man II. The latter, however, was only available on PS5 and sold at a higher price.
EA Sports FC 24 takes the second position; the game sells well.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth climbed to the 3rd position on the chart. But its sales are 23% worse than the first part of the remake. And if compared to last year's Final Fantasy XVI, sales are 4% better.
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Skull and Bones debuted at the 9th position. Its sales after the first 3 weeks are 30% worse than Sea of Thieves, released in March 2018.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League didn't even make it to the top 10; it's at the 12th position. After the first 5 weeks, it sells 33% worse than Gotham Knights and 61% worse than Guardians of the Galaxy.
Console Sales
GSD does not take into account console sales in Germany and the United Kingdom.
In February, just over 474 thousand consoles were sold in Europe. This is actually 11% more than the previous month, but if compared weekly, sales dropped by 14%.
PS5 dropped slightly - by 2% YoY. Nintendo Switch suffered greater losses - -17% YoY; Xbox Series S|X suffered the most - its sales dropped by 47%.
In February 2024, 1.6 million accessories were sold. The best-selling ones were DualSense and Xbox Wireless Controller.