Support NeoGAF

[yazenov]

Sales of video games, hardware and accessories surged across Europe last month, driven by the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Nearly 10.6 million digital and physical games were sold across Europe last month, the latest GSD data reveals.

This covers all retail games released in major European markets, plus digital games from most AAA publishers in all European territories.

It's a 33% jump in sales over the same period in May 2022, and that's almost entirely down The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is the runaway success of the month, selling more than 2.5x the second placed game: Hogwarts Legacy.

After just three weeks on sale, Zelda is already the third best-selling game of the year across Europe, behind EA's FIFA 23 and Warner Bros' Hogwarts Legacy. It's worth noting that Nintendo does not share digital download data with the charts, whereas EA and Warner Bros, do. If we look purely at physical retail sales, Zelda is already the No.1 game of the year across European markets.

The second-placed game is 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, 71.5% of Hogwarts sales were on PS4, and 11.7% came on Xbox One. The remainder were on current generation systems and PC.

Switch reclaims top spot from PlayStation as hardware jumps 40%​

Nintendo Switch overtook PS5 in May 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 are up over 39% compared with May last year. PS5 had to settle for No.2, but it remains a strong force across Europe, and sales for PS5 are up 81% compared with May 2022.


Xbox Series S and X are 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 (notable missing countries include Germany and UK, for UK hardware data, click here).

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.

European GSD May 2023 Top 20 (Digital + Physical)​

Position	Title
1	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)*
2	Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)
3	FIFA 23 (EA)
4	Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (EA)
5	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
6	Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft)
7	NBA 2K23 (2K Games)
8	Dead Island 2 (Plaion)
9	Mario Kart 8: Deluxe* (Nintendo)
10	Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (Ubisoft)
11	Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
12	Metro Exodus (Deep Silver)
13	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard)
14	Mortal Kombat 11 (Warner Bros)
15	Dead Island: Definitive Edition (Deep Silver)
16	Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar)
17	Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (Ubisoft)
18	Minecraft: Switch Edition (Mojang)*
19	Lego 2K Drive (2K Games)
20	Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Warner Bros)

* Digital data unavailable

 

[yazenov]

Sorry forgot to put the source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ninte...-across-europe-in-may-european-monthly-charts

 

[Kerotan]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

 

[Ronin_7]

HUGE May for both PlayStation & Nintendo. Very impressive.

 

[yazenov]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

Down 16% from last May. And that was supposed to be when MS claimed to have "shortages" of supply.

 

[Three]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

By not having any good releases

 

[TheTony316]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

Lack of demand.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I wonder if people buy multiple switches. Crazy numbers as it basically pushes sales despite already having 100m+ people.

 

[Fredrik]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

I’m not in any way surprised. No big exclusives lately, no performance advantage on multiplats, no big games released on Gamepass either.
I mostly use it for cheap gaming when I don’t have anything else to play. Loop Hero was cool. And Hifi Rush. And I still enjoy Forza Horizon 5 and had decent fun with the Rally expansion. But all in all. Why would sales be up?

 

[Disco Dave]

Maybe releasing great games (or games in general) would help Xboxs market share?

Crazy idea, I know.

 

[reksveks]

Definitely xbox need the games.

Switch and PS5 trucking along like clockwork.

 

[TheTony316]

By not having any good releases

I think at this point, even games wouldn't really change much in Europe. The brand has been on life support for over a decade.

 

[harry mason 1989]

Definitely xbox need the games.

Switch and PS5 trucking along like clockwork.

I think starfield will give xbox brand a huge momentum imo
If it's good of course

 

[hemo memo]

5	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

For fuck sake when is this game going to stop charting?!

 

[Barlow]

I think Starfield will boost it but not PS/Nintendo numbers.

 

[Tsaki]

By not having any good releases

They had the same releases as Playstation did. Well they had Redfall but that would probably lead people to sell their Series than actually buy one. Xbox is just a zombie brand in Europe.
Hogwarts Legacy still trucking along and holds #2. Very pleased with this outcome.

 

[systemr123]

I think Starfield will boost it but not PS/Nintendo numbers.

I think nothing can really boost Xbox anymore after Phil said basically that he gives up. How can anyone believe and trust in a brand that the CEO doesn’t even believe in?

They need to replace the man, and quickly. Then put an aggressive CEO in place that secures great games and makes the many dev studios MS have deliver top quality.

 

[ADiTAR]

I think starfield will give xbox brand a huge momentum imo
If it's good of course

N64 had Ocarina of Time, arguably the best game ever made, and back then, the best game. Didn't help.

Xbox is done. I hope the showcase is fun, I hope they have fun, I hope they don't do silly things like "world premier". But the Xbox brand is done, after Phill's comments people lost faith and are moving on.

 

[Neff]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

Phil Spencer publicly saying "Xbox is fucked" maybe

 

[supernova8]

Down 16% from last May. And that was supposed to be when MS claimed to have "shortages" of supply.

Here in Japan it's still almost impossible to find a Series X for regular MSRP. You can, however, get one for a higher price bundled with Forza Horizon 5 but who in their right mind would willingly pay extra to get an Xbox, get Game Pass (which includes FH5 anyway) and then be like "oh wow it comes with FH5!"?

 

[Tsaki]

I think nothing can really boost Xbox anymore after Phil said basically that he gives up. How can anyone believe and trust in a brand that the CEO doesn’t even believe in?

They need to replace the man, and quickly. Then put an aggressive CEO in place that secures great games and makes the many dev studios MS have deliver top quality.

The general public have no idea who Spencer is. Definitely not some idiotic comments he made in a barely watched Youtube show.
Now you could say that his comments reflect the strategy and marketing of the brand in general. That would be noticed by the consumer passively.

 

[systemr123]

The general public have no idea who Spencer is. Definitely not some idiotic comments he made in a barely watched Youtube show.
Now you could say that his comments reflect the strategy and marketing of the brand in general. That would be noticed by the consumer passively.

General public doesn’t buy an Xbox. Gamers do, and they heard of Phil probably via YouTube and other media

 

[supernova8]

General public doesn’t buy an Xbox. Gamers do, and they heard of Phil probably via YouTube and other media

Or to go one step further, a lot of the general public who aren't interested in frequenting sites like NeoGAF probably know someone who does frequent sites like NeoGAF, and the majority of people frequenting sites like NeoGAF are probably telling those friends not to bother buying an Xbox.

Having said that, I have an Xbox Series S (with Game Pass and I enjoy it), and I'd gladly recommend it to anyone who just wants to play "something" and doesn't mind being subscribed to Game Pass since, as many would agree, it doesn't really feel next-gen has really happened anyway.

 

[EdGalTBR]

I think nothing can really boost Xbox anymore after Phil said basically that he gives up. How can anyone believe and trust in a brand that the CEO doesn’t even believe in?

They need to replace the man, and quickly. Then put an aggressive CEO in place that secures great games and makes the many dev studios MS have deliver top quality.

Good games + redesign could boost Xbox sales. Also, they need a U$399,90 Xbox Series X Digital to match Playstation 5 Digital.

 

[harry mason 1989]

5	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

For fuck sake when is this game going to stop charting?!

When grand theft auto 6 release

 

[Markio128]

Maybe this weekend’s showcase will give MS a bump. Fortunately for Sony, their showcase wasn’t as make-or-break as MS’s needs to be.

 

[hemo memo]

When grand theft auto 6 release

So never.

 

[Three]

They had the same releases as Playstation did. Well they had Redfall but that would probably lead people to sell their Series than actually buy one. Xbox is just a zombie brand in Europe.
Hogwarts Legacy still trucking along and holds #2. Very pleased with this outcome.

Against Playstation they likely have little chance but we're talking about 16% down from last year's xbox sales. The brand vs the same brand last year. They really need good releases to change their trajectory. They've not had a good high profile release for 18 months. Last year this time you could say they were still riding the high from FH5 but that's not going to cut it 1.5years later. They need consistent good games and they should get their studios in order.

 

[crackajack]

I like that it has a good variety of the big third parties in there, even Embracer secured 3 spots. Just Tencent missing, and Sony, while MS at least has Mojang and Nintendo holding the flag up for first parties.

 

[lh032]

When grand theft auto 6 release

imagine both GTA 5 and 6 on the chart every month

 

[Heisenberg007]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

Microsoft be like:

 

[Heisenberg007]

Maybe releasing great games (or games in general) would help Xboxs market share?

Crazy idea, I know.

Phil Spencer disagrees.

 

[Bernoulli]

We will have market inversion when the chip shortage ends and ABK deal closes

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

How is Xbox doing badly in Europe news? The brand had a surge in the 360 era thanks to Sony fucking up with the price, and that was it.

Nothing is ever stopping PlayStation to be the absolute, undisputed leader of the console market in Europe unless one of their consoles literally costs €1000 and never comes down in price for a full generation.

 

[jm89]

5	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

For fuck sake when is this game going to stop charting?!

Stop having children basically.

 

[Ronin_7]

We will have market inversion when the chip shortage ends and ABK deal closes

At least dreaming is still free.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

It looks like Zelda is going to push Switch to a year over year increase this quarter which would break 2 years of declines. From April to June 2022 (FYQ1) Switch sold 3.43 million and if June is not terrible then Switch could achieve 4 million for the quarter. So far from the data we have:

UK: April up 30% yoy, May up 28% yoy
EU: April up 38% yoy, May up 39% yoy
JP: April 281k down 17k yoy, May 344k up 65k yoy, June 88k in 1st week up 27k yoy
US: April No.1 in units

Note: EU numbers don't include the UK and Germany

Year over year monthly percentage increases and declines for EU in 2023

	PS5	NSW	XBS
Jan	+202	-11	-32
Feb	+400	-28	+13
Mar	+400	-19	-13
Apr	+144	+38	+19
May	+81	+39	-16

PS5 is slowing down from that record breaking January to March, sales are still considerably higher than April and May 2022 though.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Maybe this weekend’s showcase will give MS a bump. Fortunately for Sony, their showcase wasn’t as make-or-break as MS’s needs to be.

Not counting some rare situations you can't play the games from the showcase right away. They need to release actual exclusives and they'll have their first proper test this year with Starfield.

 

[Ar¢tos]

5	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

For fuck sake when is this game going to stop charting?!

There must be a cult where people make new accounts just to buy the game again.

 

[Pelta88]

adamsapple trying to work out the digital split of console sales right now like...

Jokes aside, a 97% gap in sales is diabolic.

Microsoft / Phil Spencer have confirmed publicly that XB1 was a disaster, but XBOX S/X is trending behind XB1...

 

[ahtlas7]

All these high demand games released and your system sells are down?? Even with gamepass!!

 

[FunkMiller]

Switch reclaims top spot from PlayStation as hardware jumps 40%​

Nintendo Switch overtook PS5 in May to become Europe's No.1 console once again, driven by the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

 

[Ansphn]

The Xbox brand is on life support in Europe. I don't think 1 or 2 great games will change that. Xbox needs an entire generation of good to great exclusives to gain back that trust. But that's never going to happen because of the Gamepass model.

 

[MasterCornholio]

He could just be talking about Xbox and not everyone in general.

 

[FunkMiller]

He could just be talking about Xbox and not everyone in general.

And he's wrong. And he should move on to allow someone who knows how to sell games and consoles to take over. Maybe someone from Nintendo.

 

[Bernardougf]

Maybe releasing great games (or games in general) would help Xboxs market share?

Crazy idea, I know.

With this mindset you will never be the xbox division ceo

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

How the hell can you be down 16% at this stage of the gen.

Such a stupid question...

Obviously, it's because they are having even more severe supply shortages than they did last year. They simply can't meet up with demand. But starfield will improve supply.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Nothing is ever stopping PlayStation to be the absolute, undisputed leader of the console market in Europe unless one of their consoles literally costs €1000 and never comes down in price for a full generation.

Bro, please don't speak of stuff like this. Because of two reasons:
First, it may happen in the near future. And two, a eventual 1000€ PS6 Pro may not kill the Playstation momentum. I would buy one. At this point if they feel like Apple they will do the same stuff. You can see that with the wireless earbuds that will 100% be rebranded Sony earbuds wf-1000xm4 in my opinion, just costlier. Xbox just need enough exclusive games to feel like you need the console to play them. Like Nintendo does since forever.

 

[Bernardougf]

How is Xbox doing badly in Europe news? The brand had a surge in the 360 era thanks to Sony fucking up with the price, and that was it.

Nothing is ever stopping PlayStation to be the absolute, undisputed leader of the console market in Europe unless one of their consoles literally costs €1000 and never comes down in price for a full generation.

I only wish we had an 1.000 dollars ps6 pro at launch... wet dream come true

 

[feynoob]

Man, MS need those games at a faster speed light.