EA Sports FC 24 and Grand Theft Auto V lead European sales in a challenging May | European Monthly Charts
European markets saw sales of 11.6 million PC and console games in May. This marks an almost 17% decline compared to the same period in 2023.
The data, provided by GSD, covers digital game sales from most major publishers (excluding Nintendo), and physical sales in key European regions.
This drop is primarily attributed to last year's hits like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, Zelda's May 2023 sales exceeded those of the entire Top Ten list for May 2024. Additionally, the release of Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One also contributed to the higher numbers last year.
The leading game in sales for May this year was EA Sports FC 24, followed closely by Grand Theft Auto 5. Third place went to F1 2024, which launched two weeks earlier this year, though its launch sales were 35% lower than the previous year's edition.
The PC launch of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut pushed the PlayStation title to the fourth position. Meanwhile, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door secured the fifth spot. However, it's worth noting that Nintendo does not share digital sales data, potentially placing this title higher on the charts if those numbers were considered.
Selling less than similar games, Paper Mario's recent sales are 8% lower than last year’s Super Mario RPG and 8.5% below Paper Mario: The Origami King from 2020.
The only other new entry in the Top 100 was Homeworld 3, ranking at No.76.
Additionally, pricing promotions for Star Wars games boosted Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order back into the Top Ten.
Declines in Console Sales Linked to Lack of New Switch Releases
During May 2023, 311,000 game consoles were sold across tracked regions, reflecting a 40% decrease from the previous year.
All major platforms experienced significant reductions, with Nintendo Switch suffering the most. This can be attributed to the release of Zelda titles and a special OLED Switch edition last May.
Accessory sales also dropped 25% in the same timeframe, although the DualSense controller achieved year-on-year growth.
European GSD May 2024 Top 10 (Digital + Physical)
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | EA Sports FC 24 (EA) |
| 2 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) |
| 3 | F1 24 (Codemasters) |
| 4 | Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut (Sony) |
| 5 | Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Nintendo) |
| 6 | Helldivers 2 (Sony) |
| 7 | Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros) |
| 8 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) |
| 9 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (EA) |
| 10 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard) |
* Digital data not available for some titles
GSD digital data includes sales on platforms such as Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Eshop from major companies like Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group, Focus Entertainment, Konami, Marvelous Games, Microids, Microsoft, Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Tencent, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games, along with smaller studios, are not included.
Digital sales data covers Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Physical sales data spans all games sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Console hardware sales include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Accessory sales cover all these markets except Switzerland.
