Support NeoGAF

[reksveks]

18.1 million video games were sold across Europe during November 2022, the latest GSD data shows.

It's actually a decline of 17% over November 2021. 7.8 million games were downloaded (a drop of nearly 15% year-on-year), while 10.4 million were bought physically (a fall of just under 18%).

The key difference compared with 2021 is that Call of Duty: Vanguard launched during November last year, whereas this year's Call of Duty -- Modern Warfare 2 -- arrived in October.

Even so, Modern Warfare 2 remains a big seller. The game is already bigger than Call of Duty: Vanguard after just a month of sales.

Another game that was weaker during November this year compared with 2021 was FIFA, which also pulled the numbers down.

Despite this, there were some notable standout game launches.

The official best-selling game of November was PlayStation's God of War Ragnarok. It was a huge launch for the PS5 and PS4 title. For its first three weeks on sale, the game has sold 62% more units than its predecessor (2018's God of War) managed.

69% of Ragnarok's sales were of the PS5 version, with the remainder on PS4.

Although God of War Ragnarok is No.1, the reality would have been different if Nintendo shared digital sales data -- and if you combine the sales of both Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. The two Pokémon titles together sold very slightly less than God of War Ragnarok, and so with digital included, Pokémon would have almost certainly been the best-selling product last month.

Across the two titles, 56% of sales were for the Violet version with nearly 44% for Scarlet.

Its first two weeks on the market were more than 17% bigger than what Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl managed last year, and 23.5% bigger than the debut of 2019's Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Also new this week are two titles from Sega, with Sonic Frontiers at No.6 and Football Manager 2023 at No.10.

Across the Top 20, six games were published by Sony and six by Nintendo.

Nintendo Switch still no.1, but Xbox and PlayStation grow

Across tracked European markets, 690,000 games consoles were sold in November, according to GSD. It's a drop of more than 21% over the year before.

This was mostly due to a drop in Nintendo Switch console sales. Last year, a new Mario Kart 8: Deluxe bundle drove huge Switch sales during the Black Friday period. It was also the second month of the new Switch OLED console.

Nevertheless, Switch was comfortably the No.1 selling console across Europe, with more than double the sales of second place: Sony's PlayStation 5.

Both PS5 (up 49%) and Xbox Series S and X (up 22%) had a bigger November this year than the year before.

Over in the world of peripherals, 1.8m accessories were sold across tracked European markets last month, a drop of 11% over November 2021.

The PS5 DualSense controller was easily the best-selling device, with sales up more than 66% over last November. Again, this is due to the arrival of a significant number of PS5 consoles.

Two million points and subscription cards were sold across Europe during November, a drop of nearly 19% year-on-year. Strong sales of PlayStation Store credit, Steam and Roblox Game Cards was offset by a decline in Xbox and Nintendo cards.

European GSD November 2022 Top 20 (Digital + Physical)​

Position	Title
1	God of War Ragnarok (Sony)
2	FIFA 23 (EA)
3	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard)
4	Pokémon Violet (Nintendo)*
5	Pokémon Scarlet (Nintendo)*
6	Sonic Frontiers (Sega)
7	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
8	Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*
9	Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
10	Football Manager 2023 (Sega)
11	Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo)*
12	The Last of Us: Part 2 (Sony)
13	Horizon: Forbidden West (Sony)
14	NBA 2K23 (2K Games)
15	Gran Turismo 7 (Sony)
16	LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Warner Bros)
17	God of War (Sony)
18	It Takes Two (EA)
19	Splatoon 3* (Nintendo)
20	Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/pokem...-november-sales-slump-european-monthly-charts

 

[reksveks]

@Chris_Dring: In terms of consoles, Switch was No.1 in Europe, selling more than double second place (PS5). But it's a big decline compared with November 2021. PS5 sales are up 49% compared with November last year, while Xbox Series S and X are up 22%

 

[Elios83]

The problem is mainly in the Switch decline that can't be offset by the yoy growth of the other competitors. Sony could also sell much more but they're still not able to meet demand in Europe since they're focusing on the US.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

December will be huge in europe for PS5, like November was for the USA.

Yesterday i walked into a store that had an actual sign saying that if i wanted a PS5 to ask for it at the counter...and there were 6 people in line for it, lmao.

edit: Portuguese here. GAF has no idea what european countries outside of the biggest ones are going through in terms of PS5 but it's a huge issue here.

 

[reksveks]

Re Sony's target.

12.3m for the last 6months of FY22 required for the target

- 3.9m for 2021Q3 (aka our holiday period)
- 2m for 2021Q4

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

#12 TLOU2

Interesting results...ahead of Forbidden West, GT7 and even the previous God of War game. All these games had discounts and God of War had the Ragnarok hype added to it.

I thought no one cared for this dead franchise?

 

[Elios83]

December will be huge in europe for PS5, like November was for the USA.

Yesterday i walked into a store that had an actual sign saying that if i wanted a PS5 to ask for it at the counter...and there were 6 people in line for it, lmao.

edit: Portuguese here. GAF has no idea what european countries outside of the biggest ones are going through in terms of PS5 but it's a huge issue here.

December should be much better than November everywhere. In Japan they said they're planning big shipments by the end of the month and even now things have been already 10x better than last year.
Here in Italy things have been getting better, Gamestop is getting restocks almost every week but overall things are still far from where they could be, Amazon is still left in scalpers land with 800-900€ prices.

 

[RoadHazard]

Interesting results...ahead of Forbidden West, GT7 and even the previous God of War game. All these games had discounts and God of War had the Ragnarok hype added to it.

I thought no one cared for this dead franchise?

You spend too much time on GAF, in the real world TLOU2 is a very successful and celebrated game.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Interesting results...ahead of Forbidden West, GT7 and even the previous God of War game. All these games had discounts and God of War had the Ragnarok hype added to it.

I thought no one cared for this dead franchise?

TLOu2 stays winning hearts and minds while fragile brain dead folk keep crying about it.

 

[yazenov]

69% of Ragnarok's sales were of the PS5 version, with the remainder on PS4.

This number could be much higher if there were more PS5s available. No more cross-gen games necessary going forward.

7.8 million games were downloaded (a drop of nearly 15% year-on-year), while 10.4 million were bought physically (a fall of just under 18%).

Surprise surprise. boxed games are still relevant and going strong. All those boxed games sales downplaying in every thread looks silly now.