Game News Elden Ring, Pokémon Arceus, FIFA, GTA V… Which game had the biggest impact on Europe in 2022?
Published on 07/22/2022 at 21:59
Now that the first half of 2022 is behind us, it is therefore time for a mid-term review. In the space of six months, the video game sector has been able to benefit from a wide selection of games that have thrilled the public. And thanks to that, the trend is on the rise once more! However, if we had quickly crowned Elden Ring grand champion of this first half, there is a small subtlety which redistributes the medals!
Summary
- Europe revives video games, despite production difficulties
- A Nintendo Switch exclusive takes the win
Europe revives video games, despite production difficulties
Just last week, we learned that FromSoftware’s latest title might loudly claim its crown in the lands of Uncle Sam’s country. Even if the situation required some clarification from NDP Group, the organization responsible for collecting the data, Elden Ring and its developers might largely congratulate themselves on this feat. Even if it did not correspond to our European market, it already allowed to have a trend before we might see the final verdict and we had it, yesterday, through the GamesIndustry.biz site which relayed the data from GSD Market Data.
The first crucial piece of information concerns sales of next-gen consoles. Due to the global pandemic, sales fell by 21% : this decrease is explained, in particular, by the shortages which affect the supply chains, preventing the new machines from selling out. Well, not all of them! And at PS5 suffers the most – we note a drop of 44% – Nintendo and Microsoft are doing better with 7% increase for the hybrid console and 9% for the next-gen machines from the Redmond firm. It must be said that the tempting releases have been chained during the last six months and, at the level of Europe, the enthusiasm for these new productions has been felt: Germany becoming, moreover, the largest European market with 15.4 million games sold!
A Nintendo Switch exclusive takes the win
In the space of a year, the trend has improved a lot in terms of video game sales! Compared to the first half of 2021, 2022 can be pleased with an increase in sales of no less than 13.5%. In total, these are more than 76.1 million games that found takers and whose acquisitions break down as follows: 32 million physical copies, for 44 million digital copies. Proof, once once more, that the dematerialized takes precedence over plastic cases!
Now let’s take a look at the game that was unanimously acclaimed in terms of general sales since, not surprisingly, it is of course Elden Ring which sits at the top of the video game food chain from the moment you combine your physical and digital sales. The subtlety to emphasize, is that Nintendo does not communicate on its dematerialized sales which has the effect of distorting the final ranking.
However, if we consider only the physical market, it is Pokemon Legends: Arceus which is the best-selling title in Europe, in addition to having been No. 1 in France and Germany. Double blow even for Nintendo, since la Nintendo Switch remains the most popular console on the Old Continent ! Between its hybrid console which is a hit and the fast approach of the new generation of Pokémon with Pokemon Scarlet and Purple2022 might be a very good vintage for the Kyoto firm!
Ranking of all sales (physical and digital) for the first half of 2022:
- 1) Elden Ring
- 2) FIFA 22
- 3) Arceus Pokémon Legends (digital sales not counted)
- 4) GTA V
- 5) LEGO Star Wars : The Skywalker Saga
- 6) Horizon : Forbidden West
- 7) Grand Touring 7
- 8) Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (digital sales not counted)
- 9) Red Dead Redemption 2
- 10) Nintendo Switch Sports (digital sales not counted)
- 11) Mario Party Superstars (digital sales not counted)
- 12) Kirby and the Forgotten World (digital sales not counted)
- 13) NBA 2K22
- 14) F1 2022
- 15) Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (digital sales not counted)
- 16) Assassin’s Creed : Valhalla
- 17) Cérébrale Académie: brain battles (digital sales not counted)
- 18) Call of Duty : Vanguard
- 19) Far Cry 6
- 20) Just Dance 2022