New data from GfK has confirmed the PS5 was the best-selling console within the UK across December and throughout the Christmas period, though it achieved that with a 19 per cent dip in sales compared to November 2023. The current-gen system was the only machine to suffer a dip in purchases, with Nintendo Switch sales up 39 per cent and the Xbox Series X|S by six per cent. Still, Sony's box was the best-selling console of the month across just under 500,000 sales.
Across the same month, GSD data (physical and digital combined), EA Sports FC 24 was bought the most in the UK, followed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Sales of accessories were up by 63 per cent compared to November 2023 — presumably for Christmas presents — resulting in 2.07 million of them being sold. The white and midnight black variants of the PS5 DualSense controller were the best-sellers.
Did you receive or buy a PS5 for Christmas? Let us know in the comments below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 32
Incredibly misleading title. Thought this meant yoy. Of course sales will dip from Black Friday month. The header is disingenuous and makes it seem like sales of the console have fallen off.
@DefiledViper Agree. "Christmas sales down 19%" gives the impression that Christmas sales were down compared to previous years.
Because how could Christmas sales be down compared to November, when there is no Christmas in November?
@DefiledViper For real, when I read the title I assumed they meant compared to christmas 2022
As the others have already pointed out, I also thought the title was alluding to yoy sales because of the mention of Christmas in the title
@TrannosaurusBex 'clickbait-ism'
Well done to Sony, MS and Nintendo
The title has been renamed, but still not quite accurate. It went from seeming like Christmas 2023 did worse than Christmas 2022 to 2023 overall being worse than 2022.
I would be sure to say "down 19% from November" in the title to be completely clear.
In any case, I admire the editors of Push Square for putting out top-quality content and acting upon feedback so quickly whenever necessary.
Still a misleading title. Now it sounds like overall yearly sales dropped in the UK by 19% compared to the previous year lol. Why not just say sales dipped 19% from Nov to Dec? That’s normal. And avoids all confusion.
Xbox was massively discounted, wasn't it?
Yep. Got the new slim model and 3 games
Hogwarts Legacy
GT7
GTA V
Doom Eternal (digital download)
@get2sammyb Xbox series X was £359 and PS5 was straight-up RRP, with some sites doing a minor retail discount on the disc version to £469.99.
It was a pretty bold move honestly, and the sales numbers reflect that. I’m not sure what the UK November/December sales normally are but for the PS4 worldwide December was generally around 20% up on November. So these sales are not great.
Switch sales up 39%? That's mad for a 6 year old console! What a phenomenal machine it has been. I really hope this doesn't delay the Switch 2 release though.
I thought the switch might pip the PS5 in December but second is not to bad for an aging console.
The series x was still £369.99 at Smyths toys until this morning it is now £459.99.
November was always going to be better for PS5, they had the best discounts in November and also the COD bundles.
So what were the actual amounts for all three consoles in December 2023.
This sales data makes it so confusing and under a false cloud of mystery.
Just post the numbers for each console for the month.
Smoke and daggers this is.
It’s so simple GfK
December 2023 UK hardware console sales:
PS5 =
Switch =
Series consoles =
Makes me wonder if they actually know anything at all really. Smoke and Mirrors.
PS5 is selling well but I think Sony should cut the price a bit. Here in Italy the console is at 530€ on amazon (Slim model). After more than 3 years, it should be at 450€ max imho
So their competitor slashed over £100 off the price of their consoles and still couldn't beat Sony 😂. I think the PS5 consoles will also get a price drop either next year or 2026 once sales start to show signs of slowing down. But the fact Microsoft had to drop that much off the price already is a worrying sign for them.
We got one for the young lad in November (for his Christmas), got a great deal from Game, £380 for the disc version with Hogwarts and Lego Skywalker (both disc) and Barbie on Blu-ray.
Safe to say he wasn't too impressed with his Barbie 😂
Imagine the drop off was because a large number of the Xmas purchases were done in November when all the deals were on.
If more PS5 consoles were sold in 2023 than 2022, then the current headline of this article is categorically false.
Hardly surprising considering November 2023 was the best month in PlayStation history for console sales and November is often the strongest month of the year.
In fact a 19% decline is still impressive all things considered.
Comon guys how many misleading articles are they considering the title name? Anything to get hits.
Push Square, why don't you ask Sony what information on PlayStation VR2 titles are coming in the calender year? Or is VR not important to you?
I have the money for VR but want more information regarding future games. Doesn't have to be concrete dates, just little information to give us confidence.
@get2sammyb yes and no.
PlayStation was massively discounted in November.
Sony reduced the price to £380 for a disc model. This coincided with Black Friday, but the main reason was to get rid of old stock of the “fat” model in preparation for the new slim consoles.
This actually resulted in stock issues for PS5 in November. So it might have impacted sales that month.
Xbox on the other hand was massively discounted in December. They timed their major sale close to Christmas (likely to avoid the competition with Sony).
Microsoft planned it for when the PS5 prices were back to their peak and wouldn’t be discounted because it was a new product. This made their console more appealing for parents seeing the price difference when buying Christmas presents.
It will be interesting to see what happened combining both Nov/Dec to see if this had an effect.
@UltimateOtaku91 read my above comment.
The Xbox price slash happened in December. It was Sony that slashed prices in November.
But Sony had stock issues.
Of course PlayStation is selling better even with stock shortages (which should now be resolved).
Agree with others. The title is totally misleading. I feel it is deliberate. Unrelated, most sales (including non gaming) happen in Nov this year. I don’t know why not a lot of sale in Dec for Xmas. There used to be more in previous years in the U.K. Too close to BF, I guess.
@Kienda Xbox also has discount in Nov in the U.K. In fact X version was sold cheaper than PS5 at some point, around 320-330.
@Kienda Xbox series X was on sale in the UK at around £359-369 from about 2 weeks before Black Friday all the way until Yesterday. It was only briefly not officially discounted for small periods in the middle of that timeframe.
Yeah the title makes it sound like 19% down for all of 2023, it does not mention just Dec.
It was hard to resist such a huge discount for the Series X, so I got one, and I am now 80 hours into Starfield lol
Please fix the title.
Clickbait title ... disappointed
@Kienda I came here to point this out as well. The PS5 was properly priced at £379.99 for the "old" disc version.
It's massively overpriced at £479.99 for the new "disc edition" with the detachable disc drive and no stand.
I understand they were clearing the old stock to make way for the new slim model, but at £479.99 it's just too much. They set a good, competitive, price.
So, no surprise it sold massively less at the higher price.
That 19% have bought/built a gaming PC or got themselves a Steam Deck.
I got an as new, never booted, fresh in box PS5 for £300 and a Series X in excellent condition unboxed for £180, so I paid £480 for both consoles.
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