The material for Gamesindustry.biz was prepared by Sam Naji, the consultant at Sparkers.
New releases in 2022 were selling better than in 2021
- Comparison of boxed games sales from the top 10 shows that in 2022 hit games were sold 31% better than in 2021.
- Digital sales of games from the top-10 in 2022 were 52% higher than in 2021.
- Overall sales of new games in 2022 were 16% better than in 2021.
Old games sales in 2022 went down
- The overall number of game sales in 2022 declined. Boxed versions dropped by 10%, digital versions were 2% down compared to 2021.
- It’s important to find reasons why it’s happened. The COVID-19 pandemic increased back-catalog sales in 2020 compared to 2019.
- The overall decline in sales is connected with the decline in back-catalog sales. 19.7M copies were sold in 2022 – it’s 14% lower than in 2021, but 15% more than in pre-pandemic 2019.
Black Friday sales
- Game sales during Black Friday in 2022 were down by 3% compared to 2021.
- Sam Naji connecting it not with a demand slowdown, but with fewer releases in 2022 and an even larger switch to the GAAS models.
