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French video game market (2023) Console Gaming +24.1%, PC gaming -8.5% and Mobile Gaming +4.8%

jm89

Member

After two years of shortages, the arrival of large stocks of PlayStation 5 consoles has driven the French to the top, at EUR 6.1 billion. But the clouds point to the horizon.

“There is a real decoration between the video game market and the state of the industry»,” said James Rebours, President of the Video Game Publishers’ Union. The figures, unveiled on Wednesday, on French spending, in 2023, in games, consoles, joysticks, PC gamers, virtual currencies of mobile games and other headsets for online gambling, contrast with the waves of redundancies that affect publishers and production studios around the world. With an increase of 9.9%, close to Covid years, the French video game market now reaches EUR 6.1 billion. The 5 billion mark had been crossed in 2020.
To be discovered

This figure has little in common with the stagnation of the US market (by 1% according to Circana) or the modest growth of the United Kingdom (2.9%). But it can be explained in a nutshell: the PlayStation 5. The first two years of Sony's console, released in late 2020, were marked by insufficient production capabilities to meet the strong appetite of the players. The Japanese group has therefore given priority to its stocks to the strategic Anglo-Saxon markets to the detriment of Europe, where consumers have had to be deficient and patient in getting their hands on the device.

It was not until 2023 that the situation returned to normal in France, where the catching-up effect was spectacular: according to Sell, console purchases soa by 72% in one year, to EUR 1 billion. It takes place in 2007, back to the time of Nintendo’s Wii phenomenon, to find such a level of expenditure. This growth is almost exclusively due to the PlayStation 5, whose price was exceptionally lowered from 549 to 429 euros during Black Friday in order to convince the latest indecisive...

Read also How the massive arrival of PlayStation 5 could boost the video game market

The market was also driven by the purchases of video games on consoles and PCs, which reached EUR 1.5 billion, compared with EUR 1.2 billion in 2022 (up 25%). The effect is particularly dramatic on purchases from the digital stores integrated into the consoles (up 46%, at EUR 737 million), while sales in the physical format in the retail sector are resisting, a French exception (-1 %, to EUR 614 million).
“FC24” and “Hogwarts Legacy” leading sales

“The game offer in 2023 was particularly qualitative»,” says James Rebours, between the surprise success of the Belgian role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3, the phenomenon of ZeldaTears of the Kingdom (Nintendo), which marked the best start of the year in France, or the return to consoles of the Harry Potter saga with Hogwarts Legacy (Warner).

With 1.1 million copies sold, the latter marks the second best-selling sale of the year in front of the company (973,000 sales, digital format excluded). The first place goes to the indetro-free football game Fifa, renamed this year EA Sports FC24. However, its 1.4 million sales remain lower than in the previous opus (1.7 million in 2022 for FIFA 23). «“Fifa 23 had benefited from the World Cup effect, so it is difficult to gauge the effect of the name change,” said Rebours.

But the high-level scores of the first class obscure «“many disappointments” in the rest of the rankings, blowing a player in the industry. The fault of overproduction (711 console novelties, 18% more than in 2022), but perhaps also in budgetary trade-offs in times of crisis of purchasing power. On consoles, spending on microtransactions (largely the purchase of virtual currency on online games such as Fortnite) fell sharply by 16% (EUR 234 million). The French also made drastic cuts (-46%) in their PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass or Nintendo Online subscriptions.

The Sell therefore remains extremely cautious in its prospects for 2024. “We expect market normalization, after these exceptional results, which are partly a correction” of the PlayStation 5 shortages anomaly,” says James Rebours. As usual, the lobby does not provide figures for the current year. In the United States, Circana is no longer dissatisdoes. According to its most optimistic scenario, the US market will decrease by 2% in 2024. But the fall could exceed 10%.

Growth/Decline
KxOX6bU.png
Marketshare
Console Top 20 Software Physical + Digital All Console (Units)

Console Top 20 Software Physical + Digital Per Console (Units)
PC Top 20 Software Physical + Digital (Units)

Haven't posted all the data, more can be found here https://www.sell.fr/sites/default/files/essentiel-jeu-video/ejv_mars_2024_3.pdf
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
We have to start having a real conversation about how this current generation really feels like it started in 2023. There's just no way Microsoft can release a new Xbox in 2026 when you see numbers like this.

Most Gamers worldwide are going to feel like this generation just started 12 to 18 months ago. No way you can start a new generation 2 years from now.
 

Unknown?

Member
We have to start having a real conversation about how this current generation really feels like it started in 2023. There's just no way Microsoft can release a new Xbox in 2026 when you see numbers like this.

Most Gamers worldwide are going to feel like this generation just started 12 to 18 months ago. No way you can start a new generation 2 years from now.
Name it DreamBox or XCast?
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
In another thing. For all the goofy people saying that consoles are about to be over with, what do you think when you see data like this?

Do you see these PC numbers in france? Did you see how much money subscriptions lost in France last year?
 
It seems that the generation started a few years later, 2023 felt like 2014 and 2024 is feeling more like 2015, a year when cross-gen games started to decline rapidly and current-gen games increased exponentially.

The 2023 data from UK and France puts into perspective that console games do sell a lot more than PC games at least in those regions, but regions like US and South East Asia alongside Japan are possibly more PC oriented than console.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
The 2023 data from UK and France puts into perspective that console games do sell a lot more than PC games at least in those regions, but regions like US and South East Asia alongside Japan are possibly more PC oriented than console.
I wish we had the USA data for this. Something tells me it's not what we think for PC Sales.
 
I wish we had the USA data for this. Something tells me it's not what we think for PC Sales.
I think that PC gaming is very healthy. Even with the UK and France data, we possibly don't get all units sold for console and PC.

One thing for sure is that PS5 games sold a lot and that the premise of a PC version always"saving"a title when multiplatform, is probably not true.
 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
It was not until 2023 that the situation returned to normal in France, where the catching-up effect was spectacular: according to Sell, console purchases soa by 72% in one year, to EUR 1 billion. It takes place in 2007, back to the time of Nintendo’s Wii phenomenon, to find such a level of expenditure. This growth is almost exclusively due to the PlayStation 5, whose price was exceptionally lowered from 549 to 429 euros during Black Friday in order to convince the latest indecisive...

Well cot dayum!
 

Woopah

Member
PS5 finally showing its full potential, great to see that FF16 made the top 20 (at least be revenue).

The digital splits for console games are around 30% on Playstation, 10% on Switch (very ballpark figure, and only for third party on Switch).

Nintendo continues being crazy strong in France. Even though other publishers share digital and they don't, they are still the biggest publisher in terms of both units and revenue.

TOTK could be higher than Hogwarts if digital was included.
 
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GHG

Gold Member
I thought people were throwing their consoles in the trash and switching to PC. I guess not in France.

The only people saying this are those who have been emotionally impacted by what's happened with Xbox in recent months. Many of them have made the move to PC (or are planning to) and seem to want to lump Sony and Nintendo in with what's been going on. Possibly a coping mechanism.
 
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Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Someone over on IB did the digital splits for some of the games listed in the OP.
  • EA FC 24: 45.6% (48.8% PS4/PS5*, 10.4% Switch, 64.7% Xbox)
  • Hogwarts Legacy: 33% (38.6% PS5, 24.7% PS4, 10.2% Switch, 52.2% Xbox)
  • COD MW3: 48.6% (48.5% PS5)
  • FIFA 23: 52.4% (35.1% Switch)
  • Spider-Man 2: 28%
  • Assassin's Creed Mirage: 33.4% (33.3% PS5)
  • GTA V: 54.3% (38.7% PS5, interestingly the PS4 version is at least 42.8% digital and presumably a lot higher given the overall %)
  • Gran Turismo 7: 30.4%
  • Star Wars Jedi Survivor: 37.7%
  • FF16: <32%
Digital split looks to be considerably lower when compared to the UK data we've got here.
 
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Gaelyon

Member
Why BG3 is not listed on the top 20 PC games ? All my rolistes friends are playing and loving it.
Anyway France always been Sony and Nintendo land.
 

PanzerCute

Member
Digital split looks to be considerably lower when compared to the UK data we've got here.
Yes it always felt like it was the case here in France. I only buy my games physically and believe me there are a LOT of shortages when a new game releases.

I did not buy Unicorn Overlord day one and after a few days it was sold out everywhere online and in specialized retailers in Paris, same happens all the time with big japanese games and even some AAA.

One thing that can explain this is our big Hypermarket brands like Carrefour, Leclerc or Auchan, which are extremely agressive in this market: every new game can be pre-ordered for 50 euros when they cost almost 80 for digital version, and when the game releases they have the same prices in their store. Pre-orders end up being sold out 2 to 4 weeks before the release and even Amazon has to align to these prices.

Our Gamestop-like shops also have cool offers where you can get the latest big game for 30 to 40e by reselling another recent game.

And one thing also in Paris and big cities like Marseille or Lyon: we dont care about release street dates, so some video game shops find ways to get games days before they officially release, and buy a shit ton of stock. I remember getting stuff like FF16 four days in advance (the best was The Witcher 3 at the time, purchased NINE days before its official release): the queues in front of the store were sometimes huge to get the latest game.

I think these are the main reasons why retail is still strong here... why would I buy a digital licence for 80 euros when I can get the game delivered day one for 40% less?
 

Flabagast

Member
Yes it always felt like it was the case here in France. I only buy my games physically and believe me there are a LOT of shortages when a new game releases.

I did not buy Unicorn Overlord day one and after a few days it was sold out everywhere online and in specialized retailers in Paris, same happens all the time with big japanese games and even some AAA.

One thing that can explain this is our big Hypermarket brands like Carrefour, Leclerc or Auchan, which are extremely agressive in this market: every new game can be pre-ordered for 50 euros when they cost almost 80 for digital version, and when the game releases they have the same prices in their store. Pre-orders end up being sold out 2 to 4 weeks before the release and even Amazon has to align to these prices.

Our Gamestop-like shops also have cool offers where you can get the latest big game for 30 to 40e by reselling another recent game.

And one thing also in Paris and big cities like Marseille or Lyon: we dont care about release street dates, so some video game shops find ways to get games days before they officially release, and buy a shit ton of stock. I remember getting stuff like FF16 four days in advance (the best was The Witcher 3 at the time, purchased NINE days before its official release): the queues in front of the store were sometimes huge to get the latest game.

I think these are the main reasons why retail is still strong here... why would I buy a digital licence for 80 euros when I can get the game delivered day one for 40% less?

Yes, it’s so sad when you compare it to the ultra normie and conformist Canada where it is the full price in every store, and where GameStop employees treat you as if you were about to commit a federal crime when you ask them if they will sale a game one day ahead of the official launch.

Man sometimes I miss Europe and its spontaneity
 
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