European video game sales see modest rise in July 2024

The European video game market experienced a 3.4% year-over-year increase in July 2024, with 2.4 million games sold. While the top-selling title was the newly released EA Sports FC 24, the rest of the top 10 consisted of pre-2024 releases, showcasing the continued strength of established franchises.

The success of EA Sports FC 24 can be attributed to the European Championship football tournament that took place during part of July. The game sold 69% more copies this July compared to FIFA 23 the previous year, which did not benefit from a major international tournament.

Some surprising entries in the top 10 were enabled by recent promotions. Hitman Absolution, originally released in 2012, saw a boost from a free game offer on Amazon Prime, landing at number 8. The highest-charting new release was EA Sports College Football 25, which performed particularly well in the UK but reached only number 39 across Europe.

On the hardware side, console sales saw a significant 46% year-over-year decline, with 263,000 units sold across selected markets. The PlayStation 5 remained the market leader, but experienced a 56% drop compared to the previous July. Nintendo Switch and the Xbox Series consoles also saw substantial declines of 29% and 42%, respectively, as there were no major new console game launches during the month.

Accessory sales also declined, down nearly 20% year-over-year, with the PS5 DualSense controller being the top-selling peripheral.