The video game industry is still showing its good health in France: turnover for the year 2021 broke a new record, reaching 5.6 billion euros, according to a report by the Syndicate of Leisure Software Publishers (SELL ) published on March 14.
After the exceptional results of 2020, largely due to the confinements and curfews which marked the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, we could have expected a reflux. Especially since 2021 was also marked by shortages of next-generation consoles and the announcement of cascading production postponements from studios, again due to the pandemic. In the end, there is growth… even if it is modest (+1.6%).
However, this increase is mainly driven by the increase in revenue from sales of consoles, PCs intended for gaming and accessories: revenue from games as such fell by 11% compared to 2020. One of the reasons given is the postponement of several large productions. The Covid-19 pandemic has indeed disrupted publishers’ release schedules, despite the arrival of next-generation consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series).
France is a country where consoles, as opposed to smartphones or computers, are the reference medium. Revenues related to this sector occupy almost half of the market share of the video game industry (49%) when we combine the sales of machines, accessories and games.
The PC represents 26% of the market share, also including accessories and gamer computers. Finally, the smartphone market represents 25% of turnover, but is quite unique since it derives most of its revenue from the monetization of free applications.
“FIFA”, unstoppable No. 1
The champion of the year 2021 is the football simulation FIFA 2022, from Electronic Arts, which has sold more than 1.5 million copies, both physical and digital. This is not really a surprise, since the license was already at the top of the SELL balance sheet ranking in 2019, 2018 and 2017… FIFA even achieves a double: more than a year after its release, the previous opus, FIFA 21, is also present on the podium. It occupies third place in the ranking, with just over 501,000 titles sold.
If virtual football is an undeniable passion in France, karting races are also fascinating: as proof, the undeniable success of the whimsical racing game Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, from Nintendo. He sticks out a short head FIFA 21, with 503,000 copies, and took second place on the podium. A long-term success that is not about to run out of steam, since from Friday until the end of 2023, this 2017 title should be regularly enriched with new circuits – 48, in total.
Nintendo always seduces
French players seem acquired by the Japanese giant. Nine Nintendo games are in the top twenty sales of 2021. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (2021), a remake of a title released on WiiU with a new adventureis for example the sixth best seller, directly followed byAnimal Crossing : New Horizons (2020) and Pokémon Sparkling Diamond and Sparkling Pearl (2021). These entries are all the more notable in that they only include titles purchased in stores. True to its habit of swimming against the tide, Nintendo is the only publisher in the ranking not to have wanted to communicate on the number of dematerialized games sold on its online store.
Among the other commercial successes are other regulars, such as Call of Duty : Vanguard (2021), from Activision Blizzard, which occupies fourth place in the ranking (almost 487,000 copies sold), closely followed by the veteran Grand Theft Auto V (2013), by Take Two Interactive (nearly 470,000 copies), which enjoyed lasting success thanks to its online mode.
The year 2020 had seen a change in the habits of the French: for the first time, the turnover of complete dematerialized games outweighed that of games sold in stores. This is still the case in 2021, but the revenue gap between the two remains small – 51% of the amount of sales, compared to 52% in 2020.
Sales of consoles and PCs for gamers explode
While the games themselves generated less money than the previous year, demand for hardware and accessories rebalanced the balance. Consoles are the most in demand: 2.37 million of them found takers in France in 2021, an increase of 17% compared to 2020, representing a turnover of 795 million euros, the most high level achieved since 2010.
Finally, gaming PCs are making an impressive breakthrough in France. Nearly one million of these high-end computers, equipped with the most powerful graphics cards and processors, have found buyers. Their turnover increased by 26% in one year, to reach 971 million euros.
This increase could in part be attributed to the generalization of telework, which has prompted the French to equip themselves with new machines. We can also consider that it is the consequence of the popularization of video game streaming, which is increasingly reaching the general public thanks to platforms like Twitch or YouTube.