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[jm89]

• The UK software market grows due to Hogwarts Legacy, with launch sales 100% bigger than last year's hit Elden Ring
• PS5 sales surge, Xbox sales improve, but Switch continues to struggle
• DualSense Edge is the fourth biggest 'premium' controller launch of all time

The UK games market posted strong sales in February due to the performance of two products: Hogwarts Legacy and PlayStation 5.

2.8 million console and PC games were sold across the UK during February, up 11% over the year before. This data is for all physical games, plus AAA titles from most major publishers (courtesy of GSD).

Hogwarts Legacy was by far and away the biggest game of the month. Its launch week was 100% bigger than last February's hit video game, Elden Ring. In fact, the game is already on the brink of over-taking Elden Ring in all-time sales after just three weeks. It is currently the sixth best-selling video game from the last 12 months.

Hogwarts Legacy makes up for a month that was a little lighter on new games compared with last year. February 2022 also saw the release of Horizon: Forbidden West, Dying Light 2 and Total War: Warhammer 3. This month, the highest charting new releases outside of Hogwarts is Undisputed, the boxing game from Plaion, which debuts at No.13. Elsewhere, Atomic Heart charted at No.17, although the game was a Day One title in Game Pass, which may explain why 85% of its sales were on PS5 and PC.

The other slightly notable thing in the February charts is the return of The Last of Us titles. The Last of Us: Part 2 is at No.7, with sales more than double the month before. Meanwhile The Last of Us Remastered is at No.14, with sales up over 50%. There is also an increase for The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5 (No.19). These jumps are from a relatively low base, so the overall sales figures are not particularly huge, but it shows that the games have benefitted from the HBO series based on the IP, which started in January.

There are no Nintendo games in the Top Ten this month, although it's worth noting that Nintendo does not share digital data with the charts company. One of its big releases, Metroid Prime Remastered (which was surprised launched earlier in the month as a digital download) is therefore missing from the charts. Most indie games are also not included, and that's why recent hit survival game Sons of the Forest is also missing.

Meanwhile, PS5 sales increase further in February

February console sales are up 65% over the same month last year, and up 14% over January, to 143,000 hardware units sold (GfK panel data, not upweighted).

PS5 sales are up 316% over the same period the year before, and up 27% over January. Year-to-date, PS5 hardware is up 180% over the first two months of 2022. The PS5 was severely impacted at the beginning of last year due to stock shortages.

The Xbox Series S and X platforms saw sales increase 21% in February compared with January, and are 15% up over February last year. Year-to-date, the platform's sales are down slightly by 5.3%.

It's a tough start to the year for Nintendo Switch. Sales for February are down 15% compared with January, and down 29% over this time last year. Switch is now approaching its sixth anniversary, so it isn't a surprise to see the machine slowdown. Last year also saw the notable release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus towards the end of January. Nintendo is hoping to bolster hardware sales in the second quarter of the year, with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, plus tie-in activity with the Super Mario Bros movie.

… and DualSense is still the top accessory

GfK panel data shows that 511,680 add-on products were sold at UK retail during February, a drop of 17% over January and down 14.4% over February 2022.

The chart is dominated by controllers, with the PS5 DualSense controlling the Top Three positions. The White variety is at No.1, the Grey Camo version is at No.2, and the Midnight Black version is at No.3. The Carbon Black Xbox controller is at No.4.

The final week of the month also saw the DualSense Edge controller arrive at retailers (after a four-week period via the PlayStation Store). It is the most expensive controller of all time, GfK sales. In terms of premium controllers (controllers that are £80 or more), it is the fourth biggest launch for these products, behind three Microsoft ones: The Elite Wireless Series 2 (Black), the Elite Wireless (Black) and the Elite Wireless Series 2: Halo Infinite edition. The previous most expensive controller ever launched was Razer’s Wolverine V2 Xbox Chroma at £200, followed by Logitech’s Astro C40 TR PS4 (Black) at £187.

UK GSD February 2022 Top 20 (Digital + Physical)​

Position	Title
1	Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)
2	FIFA 23 (EA)
3	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard)
4	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
5	NBA 2K23
6	Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
7	The Last of Us: Part 2
8	WWE 2K22 (2K Games)
9	Dead Space Remake
10	God of War Ragnarok (Sony)
11	Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*
12	Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar)
13	Undisputed (Plaion)
14	The Last of Us: Remastered (Sony)
15	Borderlands 3 (2K Games)
16	Powerwash Simulator (Square Enix)
17	Atomic Heart (Focus Entertainment)
18	Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft)
19	The Last of Us: Part 1 (Sony)
20	Minecraft: Switch Edition (Mojang/Nintend)*

* Digital data unavailable


Source:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ps5-sales-surge-over-300-in-the-uk-during-february-uk-monthly-charts

 

[Mung]

Ps5 is a beast

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Last of US getting a big boost from the HBO show

 

[AV]

Harry Potter fans realising they gotta wait months for the PS4 version or just upgrade now.

Edit: even longer now lmao, wonder how many people see that delay and say fuck it

 

[remember_spinal]

*looks at all the Last of Us sales

Wouldnt be surprised if the series is close to 50m already

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Watching other communities tip toe around that wizard game’s sales

 

[jroc74]

Welp.

This year is gonna be a big one for PS5.

 

[Tsaki]

PS5 sales over x4 compared to last year. Also, "It's already on the brink of over-taking Elden Ring's lifetime sales". Holy fuck!

 

[Labadal]

Fuck Jim Ryan.

 

[Nothing1234]

Hogwarts is about to sell more than Elden Ring lifetime? Jesus christ.

 

[GhostOfTsu]

Up 300% in the UK and Japan so it must be similar in other territories.

 

[El Pistolero]

Fuck Jim Ryan.

I think that you accessed the wrong forum by mistake...

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Last of US getting a big boost from the HBO show

Dat corporate synergy. Sony knows what they are doing. Last of Us Online will be a monster.

 

[Tsaki]

It seems the +1million PS5s for the FY is a lock.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Dat corporate synergy. Sony knows what they are doing. Last of Us Online will be a monster.

As much as people hate to admit it, Druckmann may be the most important guy at SIE right now

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[Ozriel]

Impressive performance for Hogwarts Legacy. Nearly overtaking Elden Ring’s lifetime sales - with only a current gen SKU - is just bananas.

Great performance from PS5 as expected, and even Xbox consoles seem to have gotten a bump from Wizard game.

 

[DenchDeckard]

They deffo found all the PS5s and then some from behind the sofa!

Holy poop!

 

[Saber]

Man, that Hogwarts Legacy numbers are huge.

Wonder what will happen when the PS4 and Switch versions launch. Their numbers will be mass exploding.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Hogwarts is about to sell more than Elden Ring lifetime? Jesus christ.

Niche vs Casual followings. Kids aren't going to play Elden Ring and let's face it. Consoles are toys.

 

[feynoob]

Don't forget this one.
HL is a beast.

 

[Captain Toad]

Last of US getting a big boost from the HBO show

Sony and Naughty Dog knew exactly what they were doing.

 

[Cyber_hunter026]

recently been playing the last of us remastered. game is a masterpiece imo

 

[Markio128]

Wow - Hogwarts Legacy really has cast incendio on the charts. Impressive stuff.

 

[remember_spinal]

Fuck Jim Ryan.

 

[remember_spinal]

As much as people hate to admit it, Druckmann may be the most important guy at SIE right now

This is what i keep telling people. Naughty Dog doesn’t have to have the highest selling game (while still pretty high) to be the most important studio at SIE. They have pretty much set the trajectory of the playstation at every phase.

First iwth platformers like Crash, then with “movie games” (action games) like Uncharted, then with “oscar bait” games like TLOU, now they are setting the trend with multimedia projects and i’m 100% Factions will be sonys first majorly successful multiplayer game in well over a decade

 

[onQ123]

But the growth rate is shrinking fast

 

[remember_spinal]

But the growth rate is shrinking fast

Thats what she said

 

[Fake]

Hogwarts Legacy will have insane legs. Good for PS5 as well.

As much as people hate to admit it, Druckmann may be the most important guy at SIE right now

Yeah, the remaster beating the part 1 ... He sure is.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

it seems like PS5 eats monsters for breakfast.

edit: congrats to FIFA for the number one spot.

 

[remember_spinal]

Yeah, the remaster beating the part 1 ... He sure is.

Which means what, the games he directly worked on is beating the one he didn’t?

 

[Dr_Ifto]

it seems like PS5 eats monsters for breakfast.

edit: congrats to FIFA for the number one spot.

 

[XXL]

PS5 YTD +180%
Xbox YTD -5.3%

The fact Hogwarts Legacy isn't moving Xbox hardware....is telling.

 

[Unknown?]

With, young Jim?!

 

[remember_spinal]

With, young Jim?!

Chad Ryan

 

[Edmund]

SenjutsuSage

Good news to wakeup to.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Fucking hell whoever at Sony decided to get the marketing rights to Hogwarts needs a promotion.

 

[Revolutionary]

The game's launch week sales were 100% bigger than last year's big title: Elden Ring. It's already on the brink of over-taking Elden Ring's lifetime sales

 

[Labadal]

I think that you accessed the wrong forum by mistake...

Let me have fun.

 

[MirageMew2]

Fucking hell whoever at Sony decided to get the marketing rights to Hogwarts needs a promotion.

Marketing aside the platform exclusive quest is genuinely among the best in the game. Other platforms have to wait for a year.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Marketing aside the platform exclusive quest is genuinely among the best in the game. Other platforms have to wait for a year.

Had no idea is this quest not on PC?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Let me have fun.

Don't cut yourself on that PS5 edge.

 

[MirageMew2]

Had no idea is this quest not on PC?

The “Haunted Hogsmeade” quest is currently PlayStation exclusive for I believe a year from launch.


It’s really good and you own your own shop where you can sell back gear at a higher rate from other shops.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

PS5 YTD +180%
Xbox YTD -5.3%

The fact Hogwarts Legacy isn't moving Xbox hardware....is telling.

It did move it a bit, Feb was higher than Jan, just Jan was WAAAY bad for XBOX

 

[Elios83]

PS5 continues to dominate now that there is enough stock.
Hogwarts Legacy is also a fantastic game (just finished it last weekend at 55h) and it deserves the success.
It's also worth nothing that all the TLOU games are in the top 20 meaning that the synergy that Sony wanted to create with the TV series is actually happening.
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if TLOU Online is internally scheduled to be released this year precisely to take advantage of this momentum.
With RE4 remake this month, FFXVI in June and then Spiderman 2 possibly with a Slim PS5 model during fall, PS5 demand should stay high throughout the whole year.

 

[MasterCornholio]

But the growth rate is shrinking fast

 

[mckmas8808]

As much as people hate to admit it, Druckmann may be the most important guy at SIE right now

And it's stupid and weird that some people will hate to admit that. As if Druckmann is some terrible guy that adds nothing to the video game industry.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Red Dead Redemption 2 baby!

 

[mckmas8808]

Niche vs Casual followings. Kids aren't going to play Elden Ring and let's face it. Consoles are toys.

Bruh! Elden Ring sold 20 million units. Maybe it's not niche at all.

PS5 continues to dominate now that there is enough stock.
Hogwarts Legacy is also a fantastic game (just finished it last weekend at 55h) and it deserves the success.
It's also worth nothing that all the TLOU games are in the top 20 meaning that the synergy that Sony wanted to create is actually happening.
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if TLOU Online is internally scheduled to be released this year precisely to take advantage of this momentum.
With RE4 remake this month, FFXVI in June and then Spiderman 2 possibly with a Slim PS5 model during fall, PS5 demand should stay high throughout the whole year.

You're forgetting about PSVR2.....

 

[JaksGhost]

Yeah, the remaster beating the part 1 ... He sure is.

PS4s didn't magically disappear from the market once the PS5 was introduced.