Best-selling boxed video games in the UK in January 2022

Boxed video game sales, as well as consoles and accessories in the UK, have seen a significant decline in January 2022.

According to the latest GSD data, a total of 2.29 million video games have been sold in the UK during January 2022, though it is important to note that this information covers all physical sales as well as most digital sales from AAA publishers.

This data represents a 10% drop in sales compared to the same period last year. January 2021 achieved these numbers mostly thanks to the digital sales of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Grand Theft Auto 5.

January 2022 sales were driven by the latest installment from the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Legends: Arceus which was the best-selling game for that month. It is worth noting that Nintendo only provides information on the physical sales so the fact that Pokemon came out on top in January despite not including digital sales is even more impressive.

Due to Pokemon Legends: Arceus performing so well, video game sales in January have seen a slight sales increase compared to the previous month which is not typical since January is usually a quiet month in terms of new releases. The second biggest title to release in January 2022 was Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for PlayStation 5 which charted at number eight.

122 000 video game consoles were sold in the UK during January 2022 according to the GfK data which is an 18.4% decline compared to last year. The best-selling console was Nintendo Switch seeing a 35% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.

The latest generation of Xbox consoles, Xbox Series X/S came in second, with the majority of sales being the Xbox Series S variant. The GfK data shows that 761 000 accessories were sold during January 2022 which is a 15.6% decline compared to last year. This is likely impacted by the decline in console sales, resulting in lower sales of extra controllers.

PlayStation 5 month-on-month sales drop resulted in the DualSense controller losing its spot as the best-selling accessory of January 2022 being replaced by the PlayStation 4 DualShock Controller (Black). The DualSense White controller came in second and DualSense Black got knocked down to fourth place.

Turtle Beach headsets saw an increase in sales. The Ear Force Recon 50X Headset (Black) was the third best-selling accessory in January 2022, while the 50P Headset (Black) went up seven spots, finishing the month in fifth place.

Below are the top twenty best-selling video games in the UK in January 2022: