German games market shrinks by 6 percent
For years, the German games market only went in one direction. But now it has shrunk by 6 percent year-on-year.
(Image: Shutterstock.com/Alena Veasey)
The German market for video games shrank in the first half of 2024 after years of growth: sales of video games and related hardware amounted to around 4.3 billion euros from January to June, according to the industry association game. This corresponds to a drop of 6 percent compared to the same period last year.
The hardware segment is responsible for the biggest drop in sales: consoles such as the Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5 and Nintendo's Switch are no longer selling as strongly as in previous years - their sales shrank by 18 percent. However, sales of video games also declined slightly, as the figures from GfK and Sensor Tower show.
(Image:Â game)
The industry association game sees one reason for this in the lack of blockbuster releases. According to the industry association, an unusually high number of blockbuster games with top ratings were released in the first half of 2023. Meanwhile, the release calendar this year was comparatively sparse.
Shrinking market worldwide
A shrinking market can be observed worldwide, emphasizes game Managing Director Felix Falk. "One of the reasons for this is the outstanding first half of 2023 with more blockbuster games than ever before. In the first half of 2024, on the other hand, there were significantly fewer top releases and the major catch-up process in the purchase of current game consoles was completed, meaning that their sales are returning to normal."
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His forecast for the future is nevertheless positive: "However, the games market will not remain in decline for long. The upcoming gamescom is already making this clear with its record number of exhibitors and the numerous games that have been announced." Gamescom opens in Cologne on August 20.
Mobile games in particular are reliable sales drivers on the German games market: mobile games generated sales of 2.9 billion euros in Germany last year. This corresponds to an increase of 4 percent compared to 2022, making mobile games responsible for half of video game revenue in Germany.
(dahe)
