2.77 million video games were sold in the UK during February, a drop of 5.5% over the year before.

This is based on data from GSD, which tracks digital game sales from most major publishers, and all physical sales. The notable absent game from the charts is Palworld, because the game’s developer isn’t included in the GSD system.

The 5.5% drop last month is actually an impressive result, because last year saw the blockbuster launch of Hogwarts Legacy, which was one of the biggest game releases of the year.

The reason for the relatively small drop? Helldivers 2, which was comfortably the No.1 game of February 2024.

The Sony game achieved the rare feat of seeing its sales grow week-over-week. During its second week on sale, sales were up nearly 115%, and then it grew again by nearly 21% during its third week.

It’s also a real hit on both PC and PS5, with 57% of sales coming on the PlayStation, and the rest on PC.

It’s a hugely impressive performance for a relatively unknown franchise. To put its success into context, the game’s first three weeks on sale is only 28% lower than what Sony’s Spider-Man 2 achieved during its first three weeks on sale last year.

The next new release in the charts is Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League at No.4. The game has performed below the publisher’s expectations, and its first four weeks on sale is 20% lower than what both 2022’s Gotham Knights and 2021’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy managed.

Also new at No.8 is Skull and Bones. Again, it’s not a huge launch for the pirate game, with its opening two weeks 75% lower than what Sea of Thieves managed way back in March 2018.

Elsewhere, Persona 3 Reload debuts at No.10, Mario vs Donkey Kong lands at No.16 and new IP Pacific Drift slides in at No.18.

Over in consoles, 95,855 games consoles were sold in the UK during February, a drop of 33% over the year before, and down 13% over the previous month.

This is according to GfK panel data, which tracks console sales in the UK.

PS5 was the leading platform by a large margin, but sales were down 2% month-on-month and 28% year-on-year.

Nintendo Switch just about takes second spot, with Xbox Series S and X in third position. Both platforms saw big drops over the same period in 2023. Currently, the entire console business is 29% down in the UK year-to-date.

This is partially due to the sudden arrival of console stock this time last year after a period of low supply. There was also a Hogwarts Legacy effect on the market. According to GfK, PS5 and Xbox sales grew 27% and 21% in February compared with January, boosted by the launch of Warner Bros’ Harry Potter spin-off.

Plus, Nintendo Switch has been on the market for some time, and it’s natural to see sales fall in its seventh year.

Over in accessories, 609,425 add-on products were sold during February, which is down 12% over January but up 16% over the same period in 2023.

The white DualSense PS5 controller leads the market again, while the Robot White Wireless Xbox controller comes in second place.

There was also a strong debut for Sony’s Pulse Elite Premium Headset in the final week of February – it debuted at No.15 by volume and No.4 by revenue, and in terms of just gaming headsets was No.4 by volume and No.1 by revenue – all after just one week on sale.

UK GSD February 2024 Top 10 (Digital and Physical)

*Digital data unavailable

GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via PC digital stores, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Major participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group (including Gearbox, Koch Media, Sabre Interactive), Focus Entertainment, Kepler, Konami, Marvellous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Tencent, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.