Untitled Artwork 6
Image: Nintendo Life

May was a quiet month for the video game industry. With no major game releases (Nintendo Switch Sports just got ahead on April 29th - yeah, we thought that was a May title, too!), overall sales were down by 22%. In terms of hard figures, 100,000 games consoles were sold, 1.63 million games (both digital and physical), and 460,000 accessories.

Compared to April, which saw the release of the aforementioned Nintendo Switch Sports and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, sales were down by 32%. LEGO Star Wars remains at the top of the charts for month, however this too saw a massive drop in sales, falling 87% month-on-month. Additionally, although LEGO Star Wars took the overall number 1 spot, Nintendo Switch Sports saw the most physical sales during May and FIFA 22 won out in terms of digital sales.

Finally, console sales have fallen by 38.3% for the year so far, primarily due to ongoing stock challenges for both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The Nintendo Switch saw a small drop of 3%, but remains a strong seller when compared to the competition.

Here's a look at the top 20 games for the month:

Position Game
1 LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
2 FIFA 22
3 Nintendo Switch Sports
4 Grand Theft Auto 5
5 Elden Ring
6 Red Dead Redemption 2
7 Horizon Forbidden West
8 NBA 2K22
9 WWE 2K22
10 STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order
11 STAR WARS Battlefront 2
12 Sniper Elite 5
13 Gran Turismo 7
14 Assassin's Creed Valhalla
15 Tom Clancy's The Division 2
16 Sonic Mania
17 Pokémon Legends: Arceus
18 Call of Duty: Vanguard
19 Sonic Forces
20 The Sims 4

Hopefully we'll see a bit more of a significant change in June, with some big hitters like Mario Strikers: Battle League and Sonic Origins launching in the coming weeks.

What do you make of the charts for May? Any surprises there for you? Let us know with a comment.

[source gamesindustry.biz]