At a glance

The UK software market grows due to Hogwarts Legacy, with launch sales 100% bigger than last year’s hit Elden Ring
PS5 sales surge, Xbox sales improve, but Switch continues to struggle
DualSense Edge is the fourth biggest ‘premium’ controller launch of all time

The UK games market posted strong sales in February due to the performance of two products: Hogwarts Legacy and PlayStation 5.

2.8 million console and PC games were sold across the UK during February, up 11% over the year before. This data is for all physical games, plus AAA titles from most major publishers (courtesy of GSD).

Hogwarts Legacy was by far and away the biggest game of the month. Its launch week was 100% bigger than last February’s hit video game, Elden Ring. In fact, the game is already on the brink of over-taking Elden Ring in all-time sales after just three weeks. It is currently the sixth best-selling video game from the last 12 months.

Hogwarts Legacy makes up for a month that was a little lighter on new games compared with last year. February 2022 also saw the release of Horizon: Forbidden West, Dying Light 2 and Total War: Warhammer 3. This month, the highest charting new releases outside of Hogwarts is Undisputed, the boxing game from Plaion, which debuts at No.13. Elsewhere, Atomic Heart charted at No.17, although the game was a Day One title in Game Pass, which may explain why 85% of its sales were on PS5 and PC.

Other new releases that didn’t make the Top 20 include Octopath Traveler 2 (No.58), Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (No.78) and Wild Hearts (No.139).

The other slightly notable thing in the February charts is the return of The Last of Us titles. The Last of Us: Part 2 is at No.7, with sales more than double the month before. Meanwhile The Last of Us Remastered is at No.14, with sales up over 50%. There is also an increase for The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5 (No.19). These jumps are from a relatively low base, so the overall sales figures are not particularly huge, but it shows that the games have benefitted from the HBO series based on the IP, which started in January.

There are no Nintendo games in the Top Ten this month, although it’s worth noting that Nintendo does not share digital data with the charts company. One of its big releases, Metroid Prime Remastered (which was surprise launched earlier in the month as a digital download) is therefore missing from the charts. Most indie games are also not included, and that’s why recent hit survival game Sons of the Forest is also missing.

Meanwhile, PS5 sales increase further in February

February console sales are up 65% over the same month last year, and up 14% over January, to 143,000 hardware units sold (GfK panel data, not upweighted).

PS5 sales are up 316% over the same period the year before, and up 27% over January. Year-to-date, PS5 hardware is up 180% over the first two months of 2022. The PS5 was severely impacted at the beginning of last year due to stock shortages.

The Xbox Series S and X platforms saw sales increase 21% in February compared with January, and are 15% up over February last year. Year-to-date, the platform’s sales are down slightly by 5.3%.

It’s a tough start to the year for Nintendo Switch. Sales for February are down 15% compared with January, and down 29% over this time last year. Switch is now approaching its sixth anniversary, so it isn’t a surprise to see the machine slowdown. Last year also saw the notable release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus towards the end of January. Nintendo is hoping to bolster hardware sales in the second quarter of the year, with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, plus tie-in activity with the Super Mario Bros movie.

… and DualSense is still the top accessory

GfK panel data shows that 511,680 add-on products were sold at UK retail during February, a drop of 17% over January and down 14.4% over February 2022.

The chart is dominated by controllers, with the PS5 DualSense controlling the Top Three positions. The White variety is at No.1, the Grey Camo version is at No.2, and the Midnight Black version is at No.3. The Carbon Black Xbox controller is at No.4.

The final week of the month also saw the DualSense Edge controller arrive at retailers (after a four-week period via the PlayStation Store). It is the most expensive controller of all time with an average selling price of £208, GfK says.

In terms of premium controllers (controllers that are £80 or more), it is the fourth biggest launch for these products, behind three Microsoft ones: The Elite Wireless Series 2 (Black), the Elite Wireless (Black) and the Elite Wireless Series 2: Halo Infinite edition.

The previous most expensive controller ever launched was Razer’s Wolverine V2 Xbox Chroma at £200, followed by Logitech’s Astro C40 TR PS4 (Black) at £187.

UK GSD February 2022 Top 20 (Digital + Physical)

* Digital data unavailable

GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, 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, Konami, Marvellous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.