European video game sales dip by over 7% in January | European Monthly Charts

12.14 million video games were sold across European markets, a drop of 7.3% over the same period the year before, GSD data reveals.

The data covers all physical game sales and digital game sales from most major games publishers (Nintendo is the notable absentee).

EA Sports FC 24 was comfortably the No.1 game, with January unit sales that are almost identical to what FIFA 23 managed during the same period in 2023.

The best-selling new game of the month was The Last of Us: Part 2 Remastered. The PlayStation game’s opening two weeks was more than two and a half times bigger than The Last of Us: Part 1, which launched in September 2022. The Last of Us: Part 2 did have an upgrade offer, where owners of the PS4 version could get the remastered edition at a heavily reduced price. Also, the PS5 install base has grown substantially since Part 1 was released.

Tekken 8 debuts at No.7. It’s a strong release for the Bandai Namco fighting game, with sales up over 80% compared to the debut week of Street Fighter 6. Tekken typically has a stronger following in Europe than Capcom’s friendly rival.

Leaping up the charts this week is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. The Ninja Theory game had a steep discount on Steam, causing the game to rocket up the charts to No.8. A sequel is due to arrive in May.

Also making it into the Top Ten this week is Ubisoft’s new Prince of Persia game, The Lost Crown, which debuts at No.9.

Of course Palworld would likely have made the charts, but the data only covers digital games from most major publishers.

Over in the world of console hardware, across tracked European markets, console sales reached nearly 475,000 units over January, a slight dip of 1.4% over the year before (the data does not cover UK or Germany). Strong sales of PS5 (which was still suffering stock shortages across Europe a year ago), was offset by a sharp decline in Nintendo Switch sales. Nintendo Switch is approaching its seventh anniversary, and a successor console is expected to arrive this year. There was also a slight dip in Xbox Series S and X sales.

1.8 million peripherals and accessories were sold in January, which is also a drop of 1.4% over the year before.

European GSD January 2024 Top 10 (Digital + Physical)

*Digital data unavailable

GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Major participating companies are 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, Tencent, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.

Digital data includes games sold in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 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, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Console hardware sales cover Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Accessories sales cover the same markets, but doesn’t include Switzerland.