The European games market has not had a very good year, with a not insignificant decline… which makes you wonder.

Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief of Gamesindustry, spoke in the latest GI Microcast about the 29% drop in new game sales in 2024, according to GSD data. Wonder, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, Diablo IV, Mortal Kombat 1, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final Fantasy XVI… and by comparison, there were no titles of that caliber this year. According to Dring, two games were thoroughly underperforming among this year’s releases (Star Wars Outlaws, Dragon Age: The Veilguard).

“Sales of new games in 2024 versus new games in 2023, and let’s remember 2023 was a big year for new games, were down 29%, almost a third, year over year. Next year is the return of big blockbuster new games, even starting in February when you have this kind of triple threat of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Avowed (I know Avowed isn’t that big) and Monster Hunter Wilds all in the same window. And there’s all the games that were announced during The Game Awards, there’s an Elden Ring coming out, and there’s a Grand Theft Auto, which is obviously the big one.

There’s a new Nintendo console, and there’s going to be lots and lots and lots of games next year, but I’m alarmed by this data because despite the fact that there weren’t a lot of big titles, the big Star Wars game of the year only made it to number 45 in a year where there weren’t a lot of games coming out. In terms of the traditional big blockbuster Christmas games, you had Call of Duty, which did well, and you had Dragon Age, which did not. That is disappointing, that position. That was it. Dragon Age had the market to itself and couldn’t find an audience, and that’s really scary as we go into next year,” Dring said.

Star Wars Outlaws and Dragon Age: The Veilguard ranked 14th and 19th in Europe among this year’s games, but dropped to 45th and 68th on a list that includes titles released in previous years. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is in a similar position (9th/34th), but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also notable (12th/43rd). Only five new games did well in Europe: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (13th), Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 (12th), Helldivers 2 (6th) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (3rd), and of course EA Sports FC 25, which topped the list.

Next year, the tables will be turned.

Source: WCCFTech