After a lengthy stint of being incredibly difficult to get hold of, current-generation consoles are now rather widely available as supply has caught up with demand. But does that mean that console sales are improving year-over-year? For the first quarter of 2023 in the UK, the answer to that question is actually yes.
As noted by Gamesindustry.biz, Q1 of 2023 has shown a 25% increase in console sales when compared to Q1 of 2022. As for how this has been managed, Hogwarts Legacy and Resident Evil 4 are two accredited reasons, as the former in particular is one of the UK's best-selling games of all-time already, and has outsold both Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Elden Ring in the UK, despite both selling a boatload of copies.
There is also a bit of a catch to this data, as it's not a 25% increase for all platforms, as Nintendo Switch is actually down over 25% from Q1 2022, and Xbox Series is down 18% as well. PlayStation 5 is the saving grace this time, with the console being up an astonishing 180% in Q1 2023 when compared to Q1 2022. Since 65% of Resident Evil 4 copies sold on PlayStation, you can see why the sales are skewed as such.
Even though consoles are up, physical and digital game sales are actually down 1% over Q1 2022. A minor decrease, but one that is understandable since last year started with Pokémon Legends Arceus, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and more.