(GSD) European Sales October 2024: Sharp drop in Call of Duty sales (premium sales) on Xbox platforms as a result of the Game Pass inclusion

[FatKaz]

European video game sales jumped 12% in October on the back of blockbuster launches | European Monthly Charts

18.5 million video games were sold across Europe during October, which is a rise of 12.4% compared with the same five w…

www.gamesindustry.biz

18.5 million video games were sold across Europe during October, which is a rise of 12.4% compared with the same five week period last year.

This is primarily due to the fact that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched in October this year, whereas last year's comparative title -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -- was a November release.

Black Ops 6's opening two weeks are up 5% in unit sales compared with last year's Modern Warfare 3. Modern Warfare 3 was a comparatively soft launch for Call of Duty, if we compare Black Ops 6 with 2022's Modern Warfare 2, launch sales are down 28%.

But of course, the big difference with Call of Duty this year is its availability in Game Pass. That means people will have been able to access the game via subscription on PC and Xbox, and that data is not tracked here. Indeed, there has been a sharp drop in Call of Duty sales (premium sales) on Xbox platforms as a result of the Game Pass inclusion.

If we purely look at the PlayStation versions (where Game Pass isn't available), Black Ops 6's sales are up 26% over Modern Warfare 3 and up 2% over Modern Warfare 2. So although we are missing subscription data, it suggests that there's been a sharp increase in Call of Duty players this year overall.

Coming in second place is EA Sports FC 25. The football game sold very slightly less (down 2%) compared with last year's game over the same five-week period.

We have another new game at No.3 in the form of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero by Bandai Namco. It's a huge launch for the new Dragon Ball title, with sales (for the first four weeks) more than double the previous fastest-selling Dragon Ball game (2020's Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot).

At No.5 is another new release in the form of Super Mario Party Jamboree for Nintendo Switch. It's a solid launch for the game, although sales for the first three weeks are 6% below that of 2021's Mario Party Superstars. Note: Sales of Mario Party are purely physical, as Nintendo doesn't share digital data with the charts.

Next on the list of new games is Silent Hill 2 by Konami. The remake has charted well, although it hasn't quite managed what last year's horror remakes achieved. Sales of Silent Hill 2 for the first four weeks are 57% lower than the Resident Evil 4 remake and 31% below that of the Dead Space remake.

Making the Top Ten after one week on sale is Dragon Age: The Veilguard at No.7. EA's game did some solid numbers in the UK, but things are a little softer across the rest of Europe. Compared with other recent big RPGs, Dragon Age's first week sales were over 18% lower than Dragon's Dogma 2 (released in March) and nearly 21% below that of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (released in February).

Finally, rounding off the new releases in the Top Ten is the boxing game Undisputed. As we reported in the UK, the game by indie developer Steel City Interactive has done incredibly well, and shows there was some real pent up demand for a boxing title featuring official licences and boxers.

Just outside of the Top Ten is Metaphor: Refantazio. The Atlus game is by some of the brains behind the cult favourite Persona series, and compared with 2019's Persona 5 Royal, launch sales are just over 32% lower (first four weeks on sale). Yet it's clearly a great result for a new IP, with opening sales ahead of all other Persona titles tracked by GSD.

Finally, Sonic X Shadow Generations comes in at No.16. The Sega game's sales are double that of last year's 2D Sonic game (Sonic Superstars), but is down 42% over 2022's open world Sonic game Sonic Frontiers. The game is designed to partially tie-in with the upcoming third Sonic movie, so expect it to feature heavily over the coming weeks.

Over in hardware, 422,000 games consoles were sold across tracked markets, which is down 26% compared with the same five week period in 2023.

PS5 sales were down nearly 29% over last year, Nintendo Switch sales dropped 10% and Xbox sales were down more than 49%.

So far this year, sales of games consoles have dropped 28% over the year before.

Elsewhere, 1.4 million accessories were sold across tracked markets, which is a drop of nearly 13% over the same period in 2023.

European GSD October 2024 Top 10 (Digital + Physical)​

Position	Title
1	Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Activision Blizzard)
2	EA Sports FC 25 (EA)
3	Dragon Ball: Sparkling! Zero (Bandai Namco)
4	Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)
5	Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo)*
6	Silent Hill 2 (Konami)
7	Dragon Age: The Veilguard (EA)
8	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
9	The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo)*
10	Undisputed (Plaion)

 

[Gediminas]

European video game sales jumped 12% in October on the back of blockbuster launches | European Monthly Charts

18.5 million video games were sold across Europe during October, which is a rise of 12.4% compared with the same five w…

www.gamesindustry.biz

European GSD October 2024 Top 10 (Digital + Physical)​

Position	Title
1	Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Activision Blizzard)
2	EA Sports FC 25 (EA)
3	Dragon Ball: Sparkling! Zero (Bandai Namco)
4	Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)
5	Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo)*
6	Silent Hill 2 (Konami)
7	Dragon Age: The Veilguard (EA)
8	Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
9	The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo)*
10	Undisputed (Plaion)

Why are you spreading FUD and lie?

Phil Spencer said, that gamepass helps to sell the games.

 

[FatKaz]

Why are you spreading FUD and lie?

Phil Spencer said, that gamepass helps to sell the games.

He was telling the truth. He just didn't mention on which platform it would sell

 

[FatKaz]

Estimates from installbase

• PS5 - 272K
• NSW - 119K
• XB - 31K
  

 

[Evilms]

Hardware Europe October 2024 [5 weeks] :

1-PS5 : 272.000 (-29%)
2-NSW : 120.000 (-10%)
3-X/S : 30.000 (-49%)


(422.000 units : -12%)
(481.000 units for 2023)

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Hardware Europe October 2024 [5 weeks] :

1-PS5 : 272.000 (-29%)
2-NSW : 120.000 (-10%)

Those are YoY, meaning they sold a third less than October 2023.

Nintendo losing less sales YoY than the PS5 despite having a 7 year-old poorly ageing hardware with a successor less than 6 months away is pretty damning to be honest.

Sony's inability / unwillingness to bring down the price of their console in the later part of its lifecycle will be getting consequences.

 

[Muddasar]

Those are YoY, meaning they sold a third less than October 2023.

Nintendo losing less sales YoY than the PS5 despite having a 7 year-old poorly ageing hardware with a successor less than 6 months away is pretty damning to be honest.

Sony's inability / unwillingness to bring down the price of their console in the later part of it's lifecycle will be getting consequences.

This month will be very crucial for Sony with the Pro release and Black Friday.

If sales are still in the negative from the previous year then Sony need to do something with the price.

 

[KvallyX]

This month will be very crucial for Sony with the Pro release and Black Friday.

If sales are still in the negative from the previous year then Sony need to do something with the price.

Or they are happy with where they are at and their profit margins.

 

[Muddasar]

Or they are happy with where they are at and their profit margins.

True.

Probably matters more to Sony than total sales.

 

[On Demand]

Hardware Europe October 2024 [5 weeks] :

1-PS5 : 272.000 (-29%)
2-NSW : 120.000 (-10%)
3-X/S : 30.000 (-49%)


(422.000 units : -12%)
(481.000 units for 2023)

This is why i refuse to believe Xbox is at 30M sold or shipped.

They’ve been selling like this for 4 years and being down by large percentages every month and year over year.

The Xbox brand is no longer relevant. If it were any other company the console would of been shut down from the market already.

 

[ethomaz]

This is why i refuse to believe Xbox is at 30M sold or shipped.

They’ve been selling like this for 4 years and being down by large percentages every month and year over year.

The Xbox brand is no longer relevant. If it were any other company the console would of been shut down from the market already.

It is not... best estimates it is around 28m.
And that is the best case.

 

[Evilms]

This is why i refuse to believe Xbox is at 30M sold or shipped.

They’ve been selling like this for 4 years and being down by large percentages every month and year over year.

The Xbox brand is no longer relevant. If it were any other company the console would of been shut down from the market already.

30 million and more is just a vgchartz estimlates and xbots fanboys' bullshit.

 

[On Demand]

It is not... best estimates it is around 28m.
And that is the best case.

28M shipped 25M sold I can maybe believe.

30 million and more is just a vgchartz estimlates and xbots fanboys' bullshit.

I haven’t visited that site in long while.

 

[Yurinka]

Hardware Europe October 2024 [5 weeks] :

1-PS5 : 272.000 (-29%)
2-NSW : 120.000 (-10%)
3-X/S : 30.000 (-49%)


(422.000 units : -12%)
(481.000 units for 2023)

Seeing this it's easy to understand why MS is moving away from certain countries.
It's funny to remember people saying that with the ABK acquisition MS was going to have a monopoly in gaming or in consoles.

Nintendo losing less sales YoY than the PS5 despite having a 7 year-old poorly ageing hardware with a successor less than 6 months away is pretty damning to be honest.

Sony's inability / unwillingness to bring down the price of their console in the later part of its lifecycle will be getting consequences.

Nah, it's normal for PS and Xbox to have a higher decrease because their previous year was their peak year.
Meaning, at that point of their sales cycle normally there is a sharper decline in sales.

PS5 is selling great launch aligned considering it didn't have a price cut and that it had the shortages period. They already mentioned that couldn't apply a price cut and instead had to increase its price because the costs (components, shipments...) skyrocketed over time, unlike in all the previous generations where these prices went down over time.

Due to several reasons Sony is in a period where strategically looking at the mid and long term needs to improve their profitability right now, so it isn't a good moment to apply a price cut and increase the amount of loses per hardware uinit sold. If they manage to highly improve their profitability everywhere enough to compensate it then they may be able to apply a price cut.

If sales are still in the negative from the previous year then Sony need to do something with the price.

The yearly hardware sales of all consoles make a curve, which means once they passed the sales peak year (case of PS5, its peak year was last year), their yearly sales decline every year versus the previous one.

Price cuts didn't change that for all the previous consoles, so it would be hard to believe that it would be change it for PS5.

 

[Evilms]

 

[Yurinka]

No change in launch sales in Europe? It's hard to believe that there is no negative impact due to Game Pass.

I assume it means that either MS is counting GP subs playing it as units sold (which I assume isn't the case) or that the amount of Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in Europe is so small that didn't have any effect on the game sales. Meaning, MS spent $80B to buy CoD and grow GP but the CoD players didn't flock to go there to get GP.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Those are YoY, meaning they sold a third less than October 2023.

Nintendo losing less sales YoY than the PS5 despite having a 7 year-old poorly ageing hardware with a successor less than 6 months away is pretty damning to be honest.

Sony's inability / unwillingness to bring down the price of their console in the later part of its lifecycle will be getting consequences.

The consequences seem to be more revenue and higher profits. Doubling switch at double the price and 10x Xbox. Sony look to be doing fine.

 

[Kokoloko]

How many more subcription did gamepass get because of this decision?

 

[ethomaz]

How many more subcription did gamepass get because of this decision?

They got more subscriptions?

 

[Kokoloko]

They got more subscriptions?

I thought I remember an article saying there numbers went up a bit?
I mean this was the whole point of putting AAA on gamepass day 1, increase subs and keep them there. Lol Phil