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[reksveks]

At a glance

• Video game sales fell 6% in the UK, but new game sales rose 20%
• Console sales dropped 29% with a fall in sales for all major platforms
• FIFA 23, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga are the best-selling games
• Nintendo Switch was 2022's best-selling console, but sales down by nearly 28%

Sales of video games, consoles and accessories fell in 2022, due to ongoing stock shortages and a fall in popularity of older titles.
34.2 million games were sold in 2022, which is a drop of nearly 6% compared with 2021. This is according to GSD market data, which tracks all physical game sales and digital sales from most major publishers.
Almost 20 million of the games sold were via digital download stores, which is a drop of 3.4% over 2021. The remaining 14.2 million games were sold via physical retailers, which is a 9% fall year-on-year.
The reason for the drop in sales is because of older titles (games released in previous years). 13.9 million games sold during 2022 were new releases, which is a 20% increase over 2021. For more analysis on the performance of the new games market, check out this article from analyst Sam Naji.
To highlight the growth of the new games market: FIFA 23 sales are up 4% compared with FIFA 22. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sales are up 67% compared with the previous year's Call of Duty: Vanguard. And Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sales are up 36% compared with 2021's Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
We also saw that the transition from physical media to digital downloads slowed considerably in the UK last year. If we look purely at the games that were released both digitally and physically (so discounting all physical-only and digital-only games), 66% of games sold in the UK last year were downloaded. In 2021, the figure was 65%. This follows significant growth for digital downloading during the COVID-19 lockdown years of 2020 and 2021.

It's worth noting that Nintendo doesn't share digital download figures, so some of its titles may have charted higher as they are only counting physical game sales. The best-selling Nintendo game was Nintendo Switch Sports, although if we combine sales of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, those games would have appeared higher.

The best-selling games of the year were once again FIFA and Call of Duty. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga beat Elden Ring to third place.
New releases that missed out on the Top 20 include NBA 2K23 (No.22), Gotham Knights (No.25), Saints Row (No.28), Kirby and the Forgotten Land (No.31), Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (No.35), Splatoon 3* (No.38) and Football Manager 2023 (No.45).
Outside of the Top 50, there was Dying Light 2: Stay Human* (No.55), Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (No.56), Just Dance 2023 (No.57), Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (No.62), Total War: Warhammer 3 (No.77), Mario Strikers: Battle League Football* (No.80), The Last of Us: Part 1 (No.88) and Need For Speed Unbound (No.98).
Other releases such as PGA Tour 23, The Callisto Protocol, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: Reunion, Ghostwire Tokyo, Evil Dead: The Game, Rainbow Six Extraction, Marvel's Midnight Suns, Two Point Campus, Sniper Elite 5, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Stray and A Plague Tale: Requiem all finished outside of the Top 100. Some of those games were available in subscription services.

In terms of consoles, GfK panel data reveals that two million games machines were sold in the UK during 2022, a drop of 29% over the year before.
This was mostly due to a big drop in PS5 and Nintendo Switch console sales. Sony's new machine was impacted by stock shortages for most of the year, and sales were down nearly 33% compared with 2021. Nintendo Switch sales fell 27.5%, but it still ended the year as the UK's most popular console.
In third position was Xbox Series S and X, but it did comparatively better than its competitors, with sales down nearly 15%. Again, Xbox Series X also suffered from low supply.
Fewer than 60,000 units seperated the three platforms by the end of the year.

In terms of accessories, 9.22 million of controllers, cases and headphones were sold in the UK last year, which is a drop of 13% over the year before. The DualSense White Controller was the best-selling accessory, followed by the Midnight Black version. The best-selling third-party accessory was Turtle Beach's Ear Force Recon 50X Headset (Black) for Xbox, which was the fourth best-selling add-on product.

GSD 2022 Best-Selling Video Games (Digital + Physical)

01. FIFA 23 (EA Sports)
02. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Activision Blizzard)
03. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (WB Games)
04. Elden Ring (Bandai Namco)
05. Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar Games)
06. God of War: Ragnarok (Sony Interactive Ent.)
07. FIFA 22 (EA Sports)
08. Horizon: Forbidden West (Sony Interactive Ent.)
09. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
10. Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo)*
11. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Nintendo)*
12. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*
13. Gran Turismo 7 (Sony)
14. Pokémon Violet (Nintendo)*
15. WWE 2K22 (Take Two)
16. F1 22 (EA Sports)
17. Pokémon Scarlet (Nintendo)
18. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Mojang)*
19. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)*
20. Sonic Frontiers (SEGA)

For Context (think people are trying to finalise the 2022 numbers)

2021: ~3,360,000 units (up 14% YoY)
Switch #1 >1,200,000 units (down 19% YoY)
Ps5 #2 <1,200,000 units
Xbox Series #3 >800,000 units

Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-games-sales-dropped-6-in-2022-and-console-sales-plunged-29

 

[feynoob]

HFW legs

 

[remember_spinal]

Horizon Forgotten West, one of 3 platform exclusive titles in the top 10 along with god of war

 

[Saber]

Aye, I'm just happy Elden Ring still there selling after this time. What a chad.
Wonder if it will spike if they ever release a DLC.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

A 27.5% drop from last year means that Switch sold around 905K in 2022.

Approximate Switch UK sales.

2017: 700K
2018: 800K
2019: 925K
2020: 1.50M
2021: 1.25M
2022: 905K
Total: 6.08M

This lines up with a sales analyst saying that Switch past lifetime XBox One sales in the UK last month and XBox One sold approximately 6 million on the nose. From memory the all time best selling consoles in the UK are XB360 with 9 million, PS2 with 10 million and the NDS with 12 million. Switch could probably hit 7.5 to 8milliion lifetime.

 

[MrA]

Ha, basically 0 digital encroachment, all digital fanboys gonna have to deal with people having options for the foreseeable future

 

[Henry Panic]

Only 2 million in the UK?

This recession is starting to show signs.

 

[DenchDeckard]

How many consoles get sold in America in a year? It must be foooooking loads.

Poor uk. We try our best.

2 million consoles. So that's like 680k each for an entire year across the three platforms?

I'd love to see breakdowns of regions.

Sony selling like 16 million ps5s in the rest of rhe world lol

 

[DeepEnigma]

09. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)

"Fuck you RDR2 gamers, you ain't getting anymore updates, not even a 60fps patch. Thanks for still buying and putting us over 50million though." - Take2/Rockstar

 

[Fake]

Pokemon losing for a old RDR2?

They really messed up with Scarlet, didn't they?

 

[Laptop1991]

Cost of living issues and a lack of really big game releases will play a part here in that, i haven't bought a brand new top title for 2 years, Starfield will be the first in a long while. i'm not surprised sales are down in the UK.

 

[Gudji]

Horizon Forgotten West, one of 3 platform exclusive titles in the top 10 along with god of war

 

[brian0057]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

 

[Gudji]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

 

[Fake]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

Sony don't make shit, they copy most of the existence memes and make worse for the sake of PR.

 

[remember_spinal]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

 

[Jaybe]

R reksveks do you know if the game ranking is on copies/units or on dollars? Guessing copies given GTA5 and RDR2 being so high.

Interesting data.
The Last of Us: Part 1 at #88 seems like a sales bomb.
Same with Plague Tale Requiem missing the top 100.
With UK’s love of racing games and the amount of Xbox’s sold this year, I had thought FH5 may have a shot at the Top 20. But then Digital Foundry’s Richard was suggesting Xbox first party sales copies being down 80% and Richard is from the UK. Did they publish the same list last year?

 

[MrA]

Only 2 million in the UK?

This recession is starting to show signs.

How many consoles get sold in America in a year? It must be foooooking loads.

Poor uk. We try our best.

2 million consoles. So that's like 680k each for an entire year across the three platforms?

I'd love to see breakdowns of regions.

Sony selling like 16 million ps5s in the rest of rhe world lol

closer to 3 million, the US (plus Canada and Mexico) will be in the 18 million range, considering the US is about 5x the pop of the UK it isn't terribly out of line with the US,

 

[reksveks]

R reksveks do you know if the game ranking is on copies/units or on dollars? Guessing copies given GTA5 and RDR2 being so high.

Will be units, yeah

 

[reksveks]

closer to 3 million

It's more likely to be around 2.4m

It does depending on what retailer GFK is missing and the up weighting.

 

[Jaybe]

Wonder if this is in sales order as no other ordering is obvious

Other releases such as PGA Tour 23, The Callisto Protocol, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: Reunion, Ghostwire Tokyo, Evil Dead: The Game, Rainbow Six Extraction, Marvel's Midnight Suns, Two Point Campus, Sniper Elite 5, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Stray and A Plague Tale: Requiem all finished outside of the Top 100.

 

[MrA]

It's more likely to be around 2.4m

It does depending on what retailer GFK is missing and the up weighting.

ah, I took it as switch to xs was 60 k not switch to ps5 was 60k to xs another 60k

 

[Jaybe]

The 2021 report I’d anyone is interested:

36 million games and 3.4 million consoles sold in the UK in 2021 | UK Annual Report

35.8 million digital and physical games, 3.36 million consoles and 10.6 million accessories were sold in the UK during …

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[DenchDeckard]

ah, I took it as switch to xs was 60 k not switch to ps5 was 60k to xs another 60k

So did I, I thought he said it was 60K between all three?

 

[Henry Panic]

closer to 3 million, the US (plus Canada and Mexico) will be in the 18 million range, considering the US is about 5x the pop of the UK it isn't terribly out of line with the US,

UK used to consistently sell 3-4 million during similar timelines in previous gens.

2 million only 2 tears into next gen and with a Switch still selling well is unprecedented for this time. The percentage drop in the first post? Also unprecedented for these times.

 

[Henry Panic]

It's more likely to be around 2.4m

It does depending on what retailer GFK is missing and the up weighting.

Where did you get this chart from?

 

[brian0057]

Sony don't make shit, they copy most of the existence memes and make worse for the sake of PR.

Sony really going for that "Kill all the memes" Any % speedrun.

 

[Kagey K]

So did I, I thought he said it was 60K between all three?

That is what he said. Somebody didn't math right for that chart.

 

[reksveks]

That is what he said. Somebody didn't math right for that chart.

So did I, I thought he said it was 60K between all three?

Where did you get this chart from?

Source is IBF, the GFK reference in the GI.biz doesnt apparently include Smyths or one of the other UK retailers so the 60k isnt using the whole uk market, it also explains why the 2m is now 2.38m

 

[jm89]

Source is IBF, the GFK reference in the GI.biz doesnt apparently include Smyths or one of the other UK retailers so the 60k isnt using the whole uk market, it also explains why the 2m is now 2.38m

Smh just give the damn numbers chris so people don't have to faff around figuring it out.

 

[reksveks]

Smh just give the damn numbers chris so people don't have to faff around figuring it out

We both know that he can't due to his agreement with the trackers

 

[kruis]

Sony made memes are the most unfunny shit I've ever seen.
It's Pickle Rick levels of unfunny.

 

[Mr Moose]

Smh just give the damn numbers chris so people don't have to faff around figuring it out.

Numbers normally cost money, sadly.

 

[jm89]

We both know that he can't due to his agreement with the trackers

Insider twitter account with some cryptic wording is all the rage I hear.

He can call the account Chris_Dring2 for added safety

 

[bxrz]

Pokemon losing for a old RDR2?

They really messed up with Scarlet, didn't they?

Pokemon is split between 2 games

Combined, they are probably top 4/5

 

[Fake]

Pokemon is split between 2 games

No excuse. Previous games always act like CoD sales in this regards. Not even the worst CoD lose for old games, unless GTAV/BOTW/MK8.

They probably mess up bad.

edit: Pokemon Violet is top 14, still got beat by old games.

 

[MrA]

No excuse. Previous games always act like CoD sales in this regards. Not even the worst CoD lose for old games, unless GTAV/BOTW/MK8.

They probably mess up bad. Pokemon Violet not even in the top 20.

Violet is # 14

 

[Fake]

Violet is # 14

Yeah, I saw. Gonna fix up the post, but the point still.

Previous entries of Pokemon are unmatch, like CoD sales.

 

[sandbood]

Yeah, I saw. Gonna fix up the post, but the point still.

Previous entries of Pokemon are unmatch, like CoD sales.

Nintendo games didn't include digital sales. It's in the article where it stated Violet and Scarlet did better than last Pokémon game(+36%) lol.

But in physical sales both games are neck to neck.

Pokémon Scarlet - 214.500
Pokémon Violet - 272.500
Pokémon Scarlet/Violet Double Pack - 26.000
Total - 513.000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 508.000
God of War Ragnarök - 371.500

If you want a complete picture of Pokémon Sales you need to wait until 7 February. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is the fastest selling exclusive game of all time (10 million units in 3 days), based on that it's safe to assume over 20 million units in less than 2 months will be shipped by Nintendo which is more than Elden Rings lifetime sales and on par with the like of FIFA and COD despite only releasing on one platform.

 

[Fake]

Nintendo games didn't include digital sales. It's in the article where it stated Violet and Scarlet did better than last Pokémon game(+36%) lol.

Yes, this can be used in the previous entries if I remmember right. Nintendo never release digital figures as far as I remember and Sword/Shield was in fact the first in the series for the Switch, discarting Eevee/Pikachu with was actually rather remakes than a new entry.

Again, Pokemon franchise was alwyas neck a neck with CoD, not to mention two different versions for the same damn game.

 

[Little Chicken]

Looks like the state of the global economy is just starting to catch up with the gaming industry.

Good luck if you're about to release a $550 peripheral.

 

[remember_spinal]

Looks like the state of the global economy is just starting to catch up with the gaming industry.

Good luck if you're about to release a $550 peripheral.

You sound like a little chicken

 

[MrA]

Yes, this can be used in the previous entries if I remmember right. Nintendo never release digital figures as far as I remember and Sword/Shield was in fact the first in the series for the Switch, discarting Eevee/Pikachu with was actually rather remakes than a new entry.

Again, Pokemon franchise was alwyas neck a neck with CoD, not to mention two different versions for the same damn game.

sword and shield ended at 7th and 20th

 

[Little Chicken]

You sound like a little chicken

 

[kyussman]

I guess I contributed to this by buying precisely 0 games in 2022,lol.I'm still waiting for a game to hook me into this gen and make me buy a console......I'm basically semi-retired from gaming at this point but I would really like to see something that gets me all excited and want to dive back in.....I don't know if it's gonna happen tbh.I've got very jaded towards gaming since I finished with my PS4 and I'm not proud of that,I just see bullshit everywhere these days.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

How many consoles get sold in America in a year? It must be foooooking loads.

Poor uk. We try our best.

2 million consoles. So that's like 680k each for an entire year across the three platforms?

I'd love to see breakdowns of regions.

Sony selling like 16 million ps5s in the rest of rhe world lol

The UK is the biggest console market in Europe and sells about the same amount of consoles per head of the population as the USA. The population is 5 times bigger and during this period of Shortages the USA is being prioritized over European countries to combat Xbox Series on it's home turf so console sales are artificially more than 5 times higher.

 

[Henry Panic]

Source is IBF, the GFK reference in the GI.biz doesnt apparently include Smyths or one of the other UK retailers so the 60k isnt using the whole uk market, it also explains why the 2m is now 2.38m

That's incredibly close.

Looks like Phil and Satya were lucky and were given relief in 2022, so they better hope to release something this year. Any other time they would be much farther behind.

 

[remember_spinal]

 

[DenchDeckard]

That's incredibly close.

Looks like Phil and Satya were lucky and were given relief in 2022, so they better hope to release something this year. Any other time they would be much farther behind.

MS have deffo been lucky, its on them to hit 2023 off with a strong show that really nails why you would want a series console or purchase games / game pass on PC this year.

They need a really strong showing because they've been given a free pass for 2023.