European video game sales jumped 12% in October on the back of blockbuster launches | European Monthly Charts

gamesindustry.biz:

18.5 million video games were sold across Europe during October, which is a rise of 12.4% compared with the same five week period last year.

This is primarily due to the fact that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched in October this year, whereas last year's comparative title -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -- was a November release.

Black Ops 6's opening two weeks are up 5% in unit sales compared with last year's Modern Warfare 3. Modern Warfare 3 was a comparatively soft launch for Call of Duty, if we compare Black Ops 6 with 2022's Modern Warfare 2, launch sales are down 28%.

But of course, the big difference with Call of Duty this year is its availability in Game Pass. That means people will have been able to access the game via subscription on PC and Xbox, and that data is not tracked here. Indeed, there has been a sharp drop in Call of Duty sales (premium sales) on Xbox platforms as a result of the Game Pass inclusion.

If we purely look at the PlayStation versions (where Game Pass isn't available), Black Ops 6's sales are up 26% over Modern Warfare 3 and up 2% over Modern Warfare 2. So although we are missing subscription data, it suggests that there's been a sharp increase in Call of Duty players this year overall.

Coming in second place is EA Sports FC 25. The football game sold very slightly less (down 2%) compared with last year's game over the same five-week period.

We have another new game at No.3 in the form of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero by Bandai Namco. It's a huge launch for the new Dragon Ball title, with sales (for the first four weeks) more than double the previous fastest-selling Dragon Ball game (2020's Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot).

At No.5 is another new release in the form of Super Mario Party Jamboree for Nintendo Switch. It's a solid launch for the game, although sales for the first three weeks are 6% below that of 2021's Mario Party Superstars. Note: Sales of Mario Party are purely physical, as Nintendo doesn't share digital data with the charts.

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