Hogwarts Legacy became the best-selling Harry Potter game in the UK ever; Sensor Tower shared the Apex Legends Mobile lifetime results; Millennials in the UK & US are playing and paying more than every other age group.
This week:
- GfK: Hogwarts Legacy is the largest Harry Potter launch in the UK
- NPD: The US gaming market in January dropped by 5% YoY
- ExpressVPN: Millennials in the US & the UK are playing games the most
- GSD: European Game sales dropped in January 2023; PS5 sales skyrocketed
- Sensor Tower: Apex Legends Mobile results
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GfK: Hogwarts Legacy is the largest Harry Potter launch in the UK
- Physical sales are 64% higher than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone released in 2001.
- It’s important to mention, that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s peak sales were in the second week due to the movie’s release. Even in this case, physical sales of Hogwarts Legacy are 2% higher.
- Physical sales of Hogwarts Legacy are 80% higher than Elden Ring’s.
- 82% of copies sold in the UK are for the PlayStation 5. The remaining 18% are for the Xbox Series S & X.
NPD: The US gaming market in January dropped by 5% YoY
- The US people spent $4.3B on games in January 2023. It’s a 5% decline compared to the previous year.
- $3.79B (88%) has been spent on software. Hardware sales remained the same – $393M.
- PlayStation 5 is the January leader by both unit sales and revenue. Nintendo Switch is second.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is January’s best-selling game. Dead Space successfully started from second place; Madden NFL 23 is third.
- Accessories sales dropped by 14% YoY to $165M. Black DualSense is a best-seller.
ExpressVPN: Millennials in the US & the UK are playing games the most
Service made a survey of 1,000 gamers from the US and 1,000 gamers from the UK.
- 68% of millennials are playing games daily. Among generation Z there are only 58% of such game lovers.
- Millennials are spending more time playing games than younger generations. Moreover, 59% of millennials are playing games at night harming their sleep.
- 5% of millennials and 3% of generation Z are feeling addicted to games. The most common outcome of such addiction is an inability to focus on other activities.
- The emotional connection of men to games is stronger. For 43% of men, games are the socialization method. And only 21% of women are connecting with friends when playing games. Plus, men are feeling negative emotions when being unable to play their favorite game more often than women.
- 79% of respondents are playing retro games. For 38% of them, nostalgia is the main driving factor.
- 70% of interviewees are playing on mobile devices; 61% – on consoles; 50% – on PC/laptop. 34% are using the tablet, and 9% – VR-devices.
GSD: European Game sales dropped in January 2023; PS5 sales skyrocketed
Games
- 12.1M games were sold in Europe in January 2023. It’s 19% lower than a year before.
- FIFA 23, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2 are top-sellers.
- Dead Space remake started from the 6th place on the chart. However, data comparison of the first two sales with The Callisto Protocol shows, that the European audience liked the latter more.
Consoles and accessories
- 493k consoles were sold in Europe in January 2023 (without the UK & Germany). It’s 15.5% more than a year before.
- PlayStation 5 sales showed a massive growth of 202% YoY. It’s connected with a supply restore.
- Nintendo Switch is second (-11% YoY), and Xbox Series S|X is third (-32% YoY).
- 1.76M accessories were sold in January 2023 – a 2.1% decline MoM. DualSense is still the best-selling accessory.
Sensor Tower: Apex Legends Mobile results
- Since its release, the game received $37M from users and generated 37M downloads.
- Revenue of Apex Legends Mobile dropped by 96% in 8 months since its release. The shooters market in general decreased by 25% YoY in Q4 2022.
- However, Call of Duty Mobile revenue (main Apex Legends Mobile benchmark) increased in the same period by 7%.
Other interesting numbers of EA mobile journey
- Glu Mobile (was purchased by EA in 2021) games revenue in Q4 2022 was 64% lower than in Q2 2021 (moment of acquisition).
