European Game Sales Grow 1% in 2024 Despite Hardware Decrease

The European gaming industry experienced growth in 2024, with total PC and console game sales rising 1% compared to 2023. 

According to Games Sales Data (GSD) from videogameseurope.eu – 188.1 million games were sold across the continent, driven primarily by an upsurge in digital sales.

EA Sports FC 25, a football video game published by EA Sports, claimed the title of best-selling game in Europe, despite launching with 5% fewer sales compared to its predecessor, EA Sports FC 24.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision, followed closely in second place, with a 9% increase over Modern Warfare 3’s debut in 2023. The late-year release solidified its strong position despite being available on Xbox Game Pass, whose downloads are not tracked in these rankings.

Digital distribution continued its ascent, with 131.6 million games sold via download platforms—a 15% increase over 2023. Conversely, physical game sales plummeted by 22%, totaling just 56.5 million units, highlighting the ongoing transition toward digital-first consumption in the gaming market.

Several older titles saw renewed success in 2024. Bethesda’s Fallout 4, boosted by the Amazon Prime TV adaptation and significant discounts, skyrocketed to No.19 with a 183% sales increase. 

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 maintained their perennial popularity, ranking fourth and seventh, respectively.

New game launches struggled in 2024, with only six new titles making the top 20 compared to 10 in 2023. Sales of new releases accounted for just 27% of total games sold, down from 34% the previous year. Alongside Helldivers 2, other notable newcomers included Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which outperformed higher-profile franchises like Star Wars Outlaws.

• European GSD 2024 Top 15 Games (Digital and Physical)
• EA Sports FC 25 (EA)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Activision Blizzard)
• EA Sports FC 24 (EA)
• Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros.)
• Helldivers 2 (Sony)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
• The Crew 2 (Ubisoft)
• It Takes Two (EA)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision Blizzard)
• Elden Ring (Bandai Namco)
• Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)
• Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Bandai Namco)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft)
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Focus)

The hardware market faced a challenging year, with console sales declining 21% overall. The PlayStation 5 emerged as the best-selling console but still saw a 20% drop in units sold. The Nintendo Switch, now in its eighth year, declined 15%, while the Xbox Series X|S experienced a 48% fall.