United Kingdom is always an attractive territory for gaming manufacturers and publishers. In quarantine times due to the pandemic, from March to December 2020, companies’ revenues were really impressive. However, with the advance of vaccination, people began to leave their homes, and that meant a reduction in the consumption of gaming products in 2021.
Recent data from GfK research study confirms this trend, showing that, in terms of hardware, Nintendo Switch was back as the UK’s No.1 console last month (October 2021), after the launch of its OLED model. The OLED version accounted for 43% of every Switch console sold over the four weeks ending October 30th. Overall, 288,632 games machines were sold in the UK during the period. The second best-selling console was PS5, followed by Xbox Series S and X. In the accessories space, 720,768 add-on products were sold in October, which is down 9.4% over September 2021 and a 6.7% fall compared to the same period in 2020. The best-selling accessory was the White DualSense controller for PS5, followed by the DualShock for PS4 (Black).
MOST SUCCESSFUL GAMES
In relation to games, for the digital and physical software market, just fewer than 2.5 million games were sold in October 2021, which consists of 1.25 million physical games and 1.25 million digital games, a 50/50 split. The physical games data includes all games sold at retail, whereas the digital data comprises games sold by most AAA publishers (with some exceptions, including Nintendo). Overall, unit sales were down 31% compared with the same month of the last year. This is because FIFA launched in October 2020, whereas this year it arrived in September. Removing FIFA figures, overall, October 2021 is still down by just under 10% compared with the same period the year before.
FIFA 22 (EA Sports) was comfortably the No.1 game of October 2021, with Ubisoft’s Far Cry 6 at No.2. About the latter, 53% of Far Cry sales were made via download stores, with the rest coming from physical outlets. In terms of platforms, 58% of sales were on PlayStation consoles, with the remainder on Xbox. The other biggest new release was Back 4 Blood at No.3. The multiplayer game was primarily sold via download stores, accounting for 74% of its sales. Regarding Back 4 Blood, 37% of its sales were on PS5, 33% on PC, 18% on PS4, 9% on Xbox One and 4% on Xbox Series X and S. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was the fifth most selected title of the month. It is the second Square Enix-developed Marvel game, and has had a strong start, although sales are well below that of last year’s bigger launch for Marvel’s Avengers. The best-selling Switch game of October was the new Metroid Dread title, whereas horror games got a good showing in Halloween month, with improved sales for Resident Evil Village and the launch of the new Dark Pictures game, House of Ashes.
When checking UK boxed charts for the first week ending November 6th, 2021, there is an advance in digital sales of products, and a drop in physical sales. Top ten titles in terms of sales and players’ preferences are the following: 1) Call of Duty: Vanguard (new entry); 2) FIFA 22; 3) Mario Party Superstars; 4) Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (had a 30% rise in sales); 5) Spider-Man: Miles Morales; 6) Guardians of the Galaxy; 7) Animal Crossing: New Horizons (sales increase of 14%); 8) Minecraft (Switch); 9) Fortnite Minty Legends Pack (new entry), and 10) Far Cry 6.