The state of the gaming industry is really not that bright, because if you look at Europe, we saw a significant drop in console sales in the last month of spring compared to last year.

If you look at the European Top 10 game sales list for May, you’ll see a lot of familiar faces, and looking at the trends, it shouldn’t be too surprising that older titles dominate the podium. With Euro 2024 underway, the gaming community must have been warming up to it, as EA Sports FC 24 took the top spot. In second place, we see an evergreen game that is impossible to knock out of the top 10, as Grand Theft Auto V is also always on the PlayStation charts. In third place is a new game, but again it’s an Electronic Arts title: F1 24, which is down 35% from last year, has made it onto the podium. But let’s have a look at the top 10 (developer and publisher in brackets):

1. EA Sports FC 24 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts)

2. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games/Take-Two)

3. F1 24 (Codemasters/Electronic Arts)

4. Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut (Sucker Punch/Sony)

5. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake (Nintendo; digital sales not included!)

6. Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead/Sony)

7. Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/Warner Bros)

8. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games/Take-Two)

9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)

10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard)

Total sales were down 17% year on year, and console sales were down 40%. Last year, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May last year had as many sales as the entire top 10 in May this year, and at that time Nintendo released a Zelda version of the Switch OLED.

So it’s not a great month for us, and who knows if there’s a chance for improvement in June. Maybe Elden Ring will pull the whole industry out of the ditch with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Source: VGC, Gamesindustry