The video games industry is bigger than ever. Long gone are the days of Pong and Space Invaders, today’s games are huge projects with budgets that rival those of the top Hollywood films. Last year, there was a 1.7% uptick in video games sales in Europe. What does this stat tell us about the health of the industry on the continent and how can we analyse it to predict what the future might hold for video gaming across the world? Let’s find out.
The Data
Research published this week revealed that video game sales in Europe grew by 1.7% in 2023. To properly understand these numbers, let’s dive a little deeper into the data. The rise counts both console and PC gaming titles, which sold a combined total of 182 million across the year. With these huge numbers, even small percentage rises can be extremely significant.
August was one of the best months for video game sales. Gamers bought 10.7 million titles during the month, an impressive rise of 29% when compared to the same period in the previous year.
It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact reason that explains the rise in sales, as it is likely the result of myriad factors. However, the release of several big titles in 2023 will have played an important role.
Which Games Sold the Most?
There are always new games hitting the shelves, and many more appear every day on digital marketplaces. The video games industry today is enormous, with countless developers and publishers all pushing out new titles. However, if we want to better understand the spike in sales, we need to look at what the most popular games were across the year.
Unsurprisingly, the top game in 2023 was EA Sports FC 24. The latest instalment in the wildly successful FIFA franchise of football games topped the charts in Europe. Next on the list was Hogwarts Legacy, the Harry Potter adventure game that had been eagerly awaited by gamers and fans of the legendary franchise. In third place was FIFA 23, a game from the previous year, a testament to just how popular EA’s football games are. Also included in the list of the most popular games sold in Europe in 2023 include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, Diablo 4 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Will the Video Games Industry Continue to Grow?
Video game developers and players of the past could never have imagined the size of the industry today. Much of its success is down to technology; modern games are incredibly immersive and realistic. They provide huge virtual worlds for players to explore, and online multiplayer modes mean players can join friends and strangers from around the world.
It’s easy to assume that video games have reached the apex of their potential, but this was likely the same view people had 20 years ago. Technology moves at an incredible rate, and we’re already seeing new developments that could propel the video games industry to new heights.
The most obvious example of this is virtual reality (VR). Once regarded as something reserved for science fiction, accessible and practical VR has arrived. Players can don helmets and enter fully immersive virtual worlds, ramping up the game experience beyond anything previously imagined.
Conclusion
Those working within the video games industry will have been pleased with the news of the sales spike in Europe. They can also be confident in the fact that the results are no anomaly. Video games are on an unstoppable rise, and this will only be accelerated as new technologies such as VR are further rolled out.
