The Paris Games Week show, November 1, 2023 (AFP / BERTRAND GUAY)
Boosted by the resumption of sales of latest generation consoles, the French video game market returned to growth in 2023, crossing the 6 billion euro turnover mark, according to a report published on Wednesday.
This “new historic peak” at 6.1 billion euros, achieved in a macroeconomic context of high inflation, “establishes France today as one of the most dynamic markets in Europe”, underlines James Rebours, president of the Union of Leisure Software Publishers (Sell), author of the study with four partners (GSD, GameTrack, IDC and data.ai).
While sales suffered in 2022 from semiconductor supply shortages, preventing the manufacturers of the new PlayStation 5 (Sony) and Xbox Series (Microsoft) consoles from meeting strong demand from gamers, the “catch-up effect” was spectacular in 2023, with an increase of almost 10% year-on-year.
Console sales jumped 72% year-on-year, exceeding one billion euros in revenue for the first time since 2007-2009, according to the authors of the study.
Over the period, the French video game market also relies on other solid growth drivers, with sales of games (“software”) on consoles and PC continuing to grow (+7% to 2.25 billion euros) or even mobile (+4.8% to 1.49 billion euros).
As for the most popular games, it was once again the annual edition of Electronic Arts’ football simulation which dominated the rankings despite the abandonment of the name “Fifa”, with 1.477 million copies sold every year. platforms combined (physical and digital market, excluding Nintendo digital sales data).
“EA Sports FC 24”, which almost reached 100 million euros in turnover in 2023, outstripped the game set in the world of Harry Potter “Hogwarts Legacy”, which accumulated 1.147 million sales over the year.
Nintendo’s Switch console placed four titles in the Top 20, thanks in particular to “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” and “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”, 3rd and 4th in the ranking with respectively nearly a million and more than 750,000 copies sold.
“Assassin’s Creed Mirage”, the latest opus in the successful series from French publisher Ubisoft, the plot of which takes place in Baghdad in the 9th century, ranks in 10th position with more than 300,000 copies sold.