PS5 was best-selling console in December but sales are down

EA Sports FC 24 – not a surprise win (Picture: EA)

EA Sports FC 24 was the best-selling video game in the UK over Christmas, as the Nintendo Switch got a major sales boost.

Despite relatively few new releases, UK games sales increased in the month of December by two per cent over the same period in 2022.

A total of 6.9 million digital and physical games were sold in the UK in December 2023, with EA Sports FC 24 reclaiming the top spot to lead the Christmas rush.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, meanwhile, dropped to second place after taking the top spot in November. While it’s still clearly selling well, as all Call Of Duty titles do, it will be interesting to see whether the negative reception to the latest instalment might impact its longevity in the coming months.

The only major new release in December was Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, which came in at number eight, but obviously the month is primarily focused on gift buying for already released titles.

Hogwarts Legacy and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, placed at third and fourth, respectively, both benefiting from the Christmas bump. It’s important to note that digital sales for all Nintendo titles are not included in the chart total, so Mario’s latest 2D adventure may have actually charted higher.

Almost 500,000 games consoles were sold in the UK in December, according to GfK panel figures, via GamesIndustry.biz. This is up 2% over November and 7% up over the same time last year.

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In terms of console sales figures, the PlayStation 5 continues to dominate at number one, although sales did fall 19% compared to November. Nintendo Switch placed in second, with sales increasing 39% over the previous month, while Xbox Series X/S, placed at three, with a sales bump of 6% month-on-month.

While this paints a somewhat positive picture UK game sales in 2022 overall dropped by 6%, while console sales dropped 29% – so the uptick when comparing figures from then is perhaps less surprising in such a stacked year as 2023.

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EA Sports FC 24 was the best-selling video game in the UK over Christmas, as the Nintendo Switch got a major sales boost.