Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have reason to celebrate in the European gaming markets today, as GSD Market Data reveals that Pokémon Legends: Arceus was the best-selling physical game in Europe in the first half of the year.
The data — reported on by GamesIndustry.biz — reveals that overall game sales have grown by 13.5% compared to the same period last year (January to June 2021 compared to January to June 2022). Of the 76.1 million games, 32 million were physical, while 44 million were sold digitally.
As a reminder, Nintendo doesn't provide digital game sales, so when tallying up total game sales (digital and physical), Elden Ring is the best-selling game by a comfortable margin. But Arceus, even without digital sales, sits in third place behind FIFA 22.
Despite this, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was actually the best-selling game overall in Germany and France. Elden Ring took the top spot in the UK, while FIFA 22 was number one in Spain and Italy.
While game sales have done pretty well over the past six months in Europe, hardware has been struggling. Console sales have seen a drop of 21% year-on-year, according to GSD Market Data, with PS5 shortages being cited as a big reason for the drop.
But Nintendo and Microsoft have bucked the trend here. The Switch is the best-selling hardware for the first half of 2022, and it's also seen a 7% increase in sales based on the same period last year. And both Xbox Series consoles have seen a 9% increase.
We're now in the second half of the year, Nintendo has a few big titles coming up — and with Pokémon's dominance already obvious, it's hard not to imagine Pokémon Scarlet & Violet also making a huge impact on the numbers.
Let us know what you think of the European sales data in the comments!
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 21
Well it's Pokemon numbers... yay
"Pokémon Legends: Arceus was actually the best-selling game overall in Germany "
That's funny considering how many german speaking people I've seen online complaining about graphics, gameplay etc. They complained even more than your average Nintendo fan around the world
amazing game.. the best pokemon game I've played in a very long time!!!
7% increase..clear they won't be needing a Switch 2 this year or next.
Was a fun game, I enjoyed my time with it . 👌🏾
@mariomaster96 I kind of find unless a game is a target of complete ridicule like Balan Wonderworld.
Usually the more heated discussion there is behind the game the more likely it is to be a success compared to its usual baseline. Because it means the game has attracted more interest.
No one (or very few) would complain about a game they didn't actually care about.
Well deserved. I just want it to beat the laughable BD/SP in total worldwide sales.
It was a really fun game that achieved what it set out to do. I hope they build up a sequel upon what they learned from this spin off
@SteamEngenius yes they do! Don’t let them think otherwise!
*hopes for the release of a switch 2 in the foreseeable future.
The game finally clicked with me last month when, after originally receiving the game on release, I endeavoured to give it another fair try. Was able to continue my existing game (an impossibility with other titles) and I’ve put in over 60 hours in the past 3 weeks!
Completing the Pokédex is such an addictive and fun operation. More of this please, Gamefreak. You knocked it out the park.
Kind of bad for Sony with PS5 being down 44% compared to last year (according to the article on Eurogamer dealing with the same subject).
Whether or not we'll see a Switch successor next year is probably down when Switch sales starts to drop significantly.
I'm pretty sure already have a Switch successor lined up (probably with Breath of the Wild 2 as a cross generational launch title). The question is probably just if it'll be in the spring or in the fall (I don't think Nintendo can get away with further delaying BotW 2).
It is a good game and I have enjoyed playing it and if they ever make a sequel one of the main changes I would like to see is the addition of jumping and climbing similar to what they have in 'Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. '
@shgamer If we're being realistic the Switch will probably pass all-time PS4 sales this year... and maybe even the Gameboy/Gameboy Color it continues to sell like this into next year (dare we say can it overtake the PS2?)... Switch sales might be slowing down a tad, but it is still dominating the charts. Nintendo needs to take this momentum into the Switch 2 and not fumble the ball like they did with the SNES to N64 or the Wii to Wii U generations.
Most of those people probably spent as much time complaining about the visuals as they did playing it. As for myself I just had a blast playing it and I never gave such things a thought.
We need more of Arceus mechanics moving forward with just some refinements. Big step forward. Best Pokemon game by far from a fun factor.
Not a bad game to get it, game was a very solid showing from GF way beyond their usual mediocre standard, I greatly enjoyed my time with the game, moreso than any Pokemon game since the 2D games.
@Wexter Yeah, they really have to see if they can get it right this time (also because they only have one device these days - not much to fall back on really).. But launching the "Switch 2" with BotW 2 would probably be a really good step in the right direction (when it might happen I don't know.. but probably spring next year at the earliest).
I had good fun with the game and completed the pokedex. Could be more uplifting though. Glad it was succesful.
Call me crazy but I'm still holding out hope that, since there have been Pokemon presents in August for the past couple years, we may still get DLC along with Scarlet/Violet news.
The Switch pretty much proves what I've been saying since the late 90s: with good enough story and/or gameplay, graphics will ALWAYS take the farthest seat back in terms of importance to a game. The graphics bros just can't seem to comprehend a beautiful game isn't ***** if it's boring to play, and the more time a dev team spends worrying about the graphics and making them work, the less time they have for, you know, the actual game part. This is why I'm in no hurry for a Switch 2: let them keep on showing you don't need a system powerful enough to run a city (or ruin a planet) to make blockbusting games. I'm actually replaying Arceus rn. On all other Pokemon games, I had zero issues deleting my old save just so I could replay the full game. Arceus is first Pokemon game ever that I went out of my way to preserve my original file and monsters: I created an entirely new profile and just played it on that 😅😇
@Friendly
They really don't.
Tap here to load 21 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...