FIFA 21

The latest entry in EA's annual footy simulator series, FIFA 21, was the best-selling physical game across Europe in 2020.

The news comes from a new report from GfK Entertainment (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz) which tracks physical sales data across a number of European countries including the likes of Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, and the UK. FIFA 21 was reportedly the biggest selling game of the year in 16 of the 19 countries surveyed, including the UK where the series has always performed strongly.

One exception to the rule was France, where Animal Crossing: New Horizons claimed top spot for the year; Nintendo's island getaway, which took the world by storm during the earlier stages of the pandemic, was the second best-selling physical game of the year across Europe as a whole.

Third place went to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a game which not only released as an enhanced edition of the already-existing Mario Kart 8, but also originally launched way back in 2017. The fact that it continues to perform this well three years on shows just how important the Mario Kart franchise is to Nintendo's software efforts.

It would be interesting to see how these three games faired with digital sales also included in the mix, but it's certainly clear to see that 2020 was a great year for Nintendo's big-name titles. Will 2021 bring more of the same?

[source gamesindustry.biz]