Dragon Ball and Undisputed Sales: UK Monthly Report October 2024

The UK video game market experienced a modest growth in software sales during October 2024, with 2.9 million units sold, representing a 3.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This performance was driven by several high-profile releases, though the hardware sector continued to face significant headwinds. Data for this analysis is provided by GSD, which tracks both digital and physical sales across major platforms, and NielsenIQ/GfK for hardware and accessory metrics.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 secured the top spot in the monthly charts. While premium sales were 11% lower than the previous year's entry, this decline is attributed to the title’s inclusion in the Game Pass subscription service. Notably, premium sales on PlayStation platforms, where the subscription service is unavailable, rose by 24% year-on-year. Other notable performers included Dragon Ball: Sparkling! Zero, which saw sales 80% higher than the franchise's previous best, and the boxing title Undisputed, which emerged as a significant commercial success. Conversely, Silent Hill 2 and EA Sports FC 25 underperformed relative to their respective benchmarks or prior iterations.

Hardware sales remain a point of concern, with total console volume down 18% compared to October 2023, despite a 14% month-on-month increase to 144,000 units. All major platforms—PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series—recorded year-on-year declines ranging from 17% to 18%. While the broader software market shows resilience through strong new releases, the hardware segment continues to struggle with year-over-year contraction, reflecting a challenging environment for console manufacturers in the UK market.