Latest GSD figures showed great performance of the video games sector in Europe in May 2023 compared to the same month of 2022. Sales of video games, hardware and accessories surged, driven by the launch of the popular action-adventure title The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD).
Sales expanded by 33%, with 10.6 million digital and physical games distributed in the Old continent. This covers all retail games released in major European markets, plus digital games from most AAA publishers in all European territories.
Regarding hardware, Nintendo Switch overtook PS5 in May 2023 to become Europe’s No.1 console once again, driven by the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Switch sales across Europe were up over 39% compared with May last year. PS5 had to settle for No.2, but it remains a strong force across Europe, with sales elevating 81% compared with May 2022. Xbox Series S and X were in third position, with sales down 16% over May last year. Overall, 429,000 games consoles were sold across tracked European markets last year. That’s a rise of 40% over the year before.
About peripherals and add-on products, 1.3 million of accessories and toys-to-life figures was sold across Europe last month, which is up 30% year-on-year. The PS5 DualSense remains No.1, ahead of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. The Switch pad jumped 530% in sales following the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and there was also a special edition Zelda Pro Controller, which sold out globally last month.
Speaking of Zelda, the Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo, which was launched alongside the game, was the fifth best-selling accessory of the month. The Nintendo Switch OLED Carry Case also debuted at No.10, following the presentation of a Zelda version. Finally, in terms of points cards and wallets, 1.35 million of these items were sold last month, which was up 2.7% over May 2022. The PlayStation Store Wallet Top-Up Card remained No.1.
When looking at software sales, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was the runaway success of the month, selling more than 2.5x the second placed game: Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros).
After just three weeks on sale, Zelda was already the third best-selling game of the year across Europe, behind EA’s FIFA 23 and Hogwarts Legacy. If we consider purely physical retail sales, Zelda is already the No.1 game of the year across European markets.
The second-placed game was Hogwarts Legacy, which posted a 321% jump in sales month-on-month due to the release of the PS4 and Xbox One version of the game. For May 2023, 71.5% of Hogwarts sales were on PS4, and 11.7% came on Xbox One. The remainder were on current generation systems and PC. The only other new release in the Top 20 was Lego 2K Drive, which was down at No.19.