New game sales in Europe experienced a significant decline in 2024, dropping by 29% compared to the previous year, according to GSD data revealed by GamesIndustry's Christopher Dring.
The drop is partly attributed to the strong lineup of releases in 2023, including titles like Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. 2024 lacked the same level of high-profile releases.
Underperforming Titles
Dring specifically pointed out that Star Wars Outlaws and Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed. While Call of Duty performed well, it was one of the few traditional blockbuster Christmas releases that did.
In the European charts for new releases, Star Wars Outlaws and Dragon Age: The Veilguard ranked #14 and #19, respectively. However, in the overall chart (including games from previous years), they dropped to #45 and #68. Similarly, Dragon's Dogma 2 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also experienced a drop in rank in the overall chart, despite having decent rankings among new games.
Top Performers
Only a few new games performed relatively well in Europe this year:
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO (#13)
- Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 (#12)
- Helldivers 2 (#6)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (#3)
As expected, EA Sports FC 25 dominated sales in Europe.
Looking ahead, 2025 is expected to see the return of big blockbuster titles, including new Assassin's Creed, Monster Hunter, Elden Ring, and Grand Theft Auto releases, as well as a new Nintendo console.
