The European gaming market struggled with declining console sales in February. The Xbox duo in particular was hit hard. Things went much better for Sony in two respects.
Last month's European video game charts are here and also provide a look at console sales. In the regions evaluated (excluding Germany and Great Britain), 474,469 game consoles were sold in February.
This represents a technical increase of eleven percent compared to the previous year. The devil is in the details, however, as there is a four-week and a five-week period juxtaposed Gamesindustry reported.
If the five weeks in February 2024 are compared with the corresponding five weeks from 2023, there will be a decline in sales of 14 percent.
Xbox consoles with a 47 percent decline
In February 2024, all three console platforms were struggling with declines. The PS5 recorded the lowest loss of just two percent compared to the previous year, which means the console was able to demonstrate its own resilience.
There were greater declines in consoles from Nintendo and Microsoft, as the following overall overview shows.
Console sales in February 2024 compared to last year:
PS5: Minus 2 percent Switch: Minus 17 percent Xbox Series X/S: Minus 47 percent
Since there are no absolute numbers, it is difficult to estimate how big the differences actually are.
It is worth taking a look back at the European ones here Charts from February 2023which gave the following results:
The PS5 was “by far” the best-selling console in Europe. Second place went to the Switch with less than half of PS5 sales. The Xbox Series S and X take third place.
Together with today's figures, it becomes clear once again that Sony has the clearly dominant console on the market in Europe with the PS5.
Helldivers 2 at the top in Europe
The first place in the game charts also went to a title that was brought onto the market by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
âHelldivers 2â took over the top position in the launch month. Over 56 percent of sales were on the PC platform, which differs from previous sales analyses. In the British February charts The PS5 version of the shooter developed by Arrowhead Game Studios was ahead.
In the second week, sales of “Helldivers 2” increased by 70 percent and in the third week by another three percent. Growth slowed slightly thereafter, with a 28 percent decline in the fourth week.
It should be noted that most games show strong declines in the second week, with 60 and 80 percent being common, according to Gamesindustry.
The comparison with another Sony game is also impressive: After four weeks, sales of “Helldivers 2” are only five percent behind those of “Marvel's Spider-Man 2”. It should be noted that the superhero game was offered at a higher price and was available exclusively for PS5.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn't come close to the first remake part
„Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth“ (Test) landed in third place and couldn't keep up with the first part of the remake trilogy, as opening sales fell by 23 percent. The publication periods and platforms must be taken into account here.
“Final Fantasy 7 Remake†came out in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and for the PS4 with a larger install base. Compared to “Final Fantasy 16,” “Rebirth” had a four percent better launch. A double pack consisting of “Remake” and “Rebirth” reached number 39 in the European charts in February.
“Sea of Thieves,” in turn, landed in 9th place and found 30 percent fewer buyers than “Sea of Thieves,” which was released in 2018. The last mentioned Xbox title will also land on the PS5 in April.
The European GSD charts in February 2024 – physical and digital:
RangSpiel1Helldivers 2 (Sony)2EA Sports FC 24 (EA)3Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Square Enix)4Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)5Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard)6Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)7Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)8It Takes Two (EA)9Skull and Bones (Ubisoft)10Need for Speed: Heat (EA)
Further details about the surveys can be found on Gamesinsutry.biz.
Further reports on European charts.
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