GSD just published top 20 best-selling games in Europe in 2021; a top in which we find a lot of “long sellers” released in previous years and seven Nintendo Switch games, and even nine counting the two Fifa. Indeed, if Fifa 22 takes the lead in the ranking of the best selling games in Europe in 2021, we also find Fifa 21 in third place! The first four places are also held by large multi games which are a hit above all on competing consoles. But Nintendo is in ambush … If we find the inevitable Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing : New Horizons, the Japanese company still manages to place in top 10, a new title (or almost) released in 2021, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. We also find Pokémon Sparkling Diamond to the 15eme place, even though he left at the end of the year. A fine performance, especially when combining its sales with those of Pokémon Sparkling Pearl, the game would end up at 5th place, and maybe even higher, Nintendo not having communicated the eShop sales of the two titles. Mario Party Superstars, also released at the end of 2021 (and only counting physical sales) managed to find a small place at the end of the Top 20 just ahead Ring Fit Adventure. Little surprise, we find in 14th place, Minecraft in version Switch which therefore continues to sell very well on the Nintendo console, more than 4 years after its release on Switch.
Globally, 2021 was a good year in terms of video game sales in Europe. Indeed, still according to GSD, more 170 million video games (digital + physical), seven million consoles and 19 million accessories were sold in Europe in 2021. Certainly fewer games were sold compared to the previous year (-9.5%) but it must be recognized that 2020 is also an exceptional year because of the repeated confinements in the world. Comparing 2021 at 2019, the video game market, on the other hand, is up 12.3%. The Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console, taking advantage of good momentum but also of the shortages of its competitors, losing “only” 6% compared to 2020 (which again was “exceptional”).
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Top 20 GSD video games sold in Europe in 2021 (digital + physical)
| Position | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 22 (SHE) | |
| 2 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) | |
| 3 | FIFA 21 (SHE) | |
| 4 | Call of Duty: Vanguard (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 5 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)* | |
| 6 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) | |
| 7 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo)* | |
| 8 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 9 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft) | |
| 10 | Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony) | |
| 11 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)* | |
| 12 | F1 2021 (EA / Codemasters) | |
| 13 | Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft) | |
| 14 | Minecraft: Switch Edition (Nintendo/Mojang)* | |
| 15 | Pokémon Sparkling Diamond (Nintendo)* | |
| 16 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft) | |
| 17 | Resident Evil Village (Capcom) | |
| 18 | Battlefield 2042 (EA) | |
| 19 | Mario Party Superstars (Nintendo)* | |
| 20 | Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo)* |
* Numerical data not available