Sales of games in Germany slumped by 11 per cent

76.1 million games were sold in Europe in the first half of 2023. This is reported by Gamesindustry.biz based on data from GSD. Data for Germany is also cited. Germany is the only top 5 market in Europe with declining sales figures.

The game's official half-year figures for the German games market are actually not expected until gamescom, but there is already a first preview. The British industry service gamesindustry.biz reports on games sales in Europe in the first half of 2023 and also gives figures for Germany.

A total of 76.1 million PC and console games were sold across Europe in the first six months of the year. This is a slight increase compared to the previous year. The strongest European market in the first half of the year was Great Britain, with 15.3 million units sold. Germany is in second place with around 14 million units sold, ahead of France with 11.1 million units, Spain with 5.4 million units and Italy with 4.9 million units. According to Gamesindustry.biz, Germany is the only top five games market in Europe to suffer a negative development in sales. Sales in Germany fell by eleven per cent compared to the same period last year, while the other four core markets grew by between 2.7 per cent (Italy) and eight per cent (France).

There is no information on turnover, but there is on the relationship between digital and physical marketing. The number of physical games sold across Europe declined by nine per cent to 29.1 million units. The number of digitally sold titles, on the other hand, rose by seven per cent to 47 million units.

The best-selling game in Europe in the first half of the year was "Hogwarts Legacy", ahead of "Diablo 4" and "FIFA 23". According to gamesindustry.biz, the Warner title also topped the charts in the UK, France, Italy and Germany. Only in Spain was "FIFA" ahead of "Harry Potter". Although no sales figures are given, according to the report, "Hogwarts" sold 124 per cent better in the UK than the number two "FIFA 23" there. In Germany, the title was 14 per cent ahead of the number two game, which was "Diablo 4". And in France, "Hogwarts" was 17 per cent bigger than the number two title there in the first half of the year, which was, however, the fourth-placed title in Europe, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom".