Hogwarts Legacy and PS5 rescue UK games market in Q1 2023 | UK Monthly Charts
UK sales of video games and consoles rose during the first quarter of the year, according to the latest market data from GSD and GfK.
GSD data shows that game sales (including physical and digital downloads) rose 1% compared with the same period last year, with just under eight million games sold. It’s an impressive achievement considering Q1 2022 featured major launches such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Elden Ring and Horizon: Forbidden West.
The success of the software market was driven by Hogwarts Legacy, which is the fastest-selling video game in the UK outside of FIFA and Call of Duty since Red Dead Redemption 2. It has already outsold two of last year’s best-selling games: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Elden Ring.
The console hardware space is up a substantial 24.2% for the first quarter of the year, GfK data shows. This is due to the PS5, which is now in fully supply but was largely missing from shelves during Q1 last year. PS5 sales are up over 180% for the first three months of the year, and Sony’s new console accounted for over half the market during the quarter.
The success off-set a steep decline in Nintendo Switch sales (down over 25%), which is the No.2 console of the year so far. Xbox Series S and X sales were also down 18% for the first quarter.
Resident Evil 4 comes out top in March
Delving into the March market data, and sales were actually down a little bit. 2.7 million digital and physical games were sold (GSD data), which is a fall of 3% year-on-year.
The Resident Evil 4 remake claimed the No.1 spot, despite launching late in the month. The Capcom game didn't sell quite as strongly as the Resident Evil 2 Remake or the recent Resident Evil Village, but surpassed the performance of
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