Best-selling video games in the UK in February 2023

Over 2.5 million games were sold in the UK last month, an increase of more than 10% from the previous year. This figure represents all physical copies sold, courtesy of the UK Games Sales Data chart.

According to the GSD, February enjoyed a strong month of sales mainly thanks to just two things, the release of Hogwarts Legacy and continued demand for the PS5. Hogwarts Legacy is arguably the biggest title launched so far this year and the sales figures reflect this and already sits in 6th place on the best-selling games list for the past 12 months, after only three weeks of being released. Compared to last February’s big title, Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy is already 100% bigger in terms of numbers. The much-anticipated Harry Potter title is already well on its way to overtaking Elden Ring’s all-time sales figures after just a few short weeks.

Other than Hogwarts Legacy, this past month also saw the release of the boxing title, Undisputed, and the first-person shooter, Atomic Heart. Both of which finished the month in the charts in the 13th and 17th positions respectfully. In somewhat of a surprise, both games in The Last of Us series also returned to the charts in February. With more than double the sales from the month before, The Last of Us: Part 2 took the No.7 spot, while The Last of Us Remastered is now at No.14. The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5 also saw an increase and took the No.19 position. This is undoubtedly a consequence of the success of HBO’s adaptation of the games, which started back in January.

Another surprise is the fact that no Nintendo games made it into the Top Ten this month. As the GSD only tracks physical sales, the long-expected Metroid Prime Remastered did not make the list as it was only launched as a digital download.

February also saw console sales rise by 65% compared to that of February last year. With over 140, 000 consoles sold, this is an increase of nearly 15% compared to January. Sales on the PS5 consoles are up 27% over January and a whopping 316% compared to the same period of last year. Overall, the PS5 console is up 180% by comparison with the first two months of 2022. This is in part due to the fact that the PlayStation5 was heavily impacted last year due to shortages of stock.

The Xbox Series S and X consoles also enjoyed a sales increase of more than 20% in February, rising 15% compared to last February, however, the platform’s overall sales are down by a slight 5% for the past 12 months.

Things haven’t gone as smoothly for the Nintendo Switch so far. Figures for February show a 15% decrease compared to January and are down more than 25% compared to this time last year. Nintendo will no doubt be hoping to boost its hardware sales with the upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, scheduled for release in the second quarter of this year.

In terms of accessory sales, the data shows that over 500,000 add-on goods were sold in the UK throughout February, a decrease of more than 15% over January and around 15% also compared to February 2022. The PS5 DualSense controller is still dominating the charts, taking the Top Three positions last month. The White colored version remains the most popular of the three, while the Grey Camo controller came in second, and the Midnight Black model came in at No.3. Xbox’s Carbon Black controller ended the month just behind, in the No.4 position.

The end of February also saw the retail release of the DualSense Edge controller. It is the most expensive game controller ever created with an average selling price of around £208. The previous record for the most high-cost controller went to Razer’s Wolverine V2 Xbox Chroma which retailed at £200, followed closely by Logitech’s Astro C40 TR PS4 which sold for a hefty £187 on launch.