In 2024, nothing is going well. The video game industry is piling up layoffs after dozens of studios announced, and its console sales are plummeting. GamesIndustry.biz reports that manufacturers are to be pitied for the month of February which was generally catastrophic. As we know, console sales have been declining since the end of last year, and at the start of 2024 the trend is not to the increase.
In Europe, gamers bought a total of 474,469 consoles. However, these figures do not take into account the two major markets, Germany and the United Kingdom. In total, this represents a 14% year-on-year decrease for the same period. This is obviously a more or less significant loss for each manufacturer.
Once again, Sony is the one that comes out the best. The company records a drop in sales of only 2% for its PS5 consoles. In line with the figures already recovered last year, Nintendo is taking the hit with a 17% drop for its Switch. Finally, Microsoft is still the most to be pitied. Xbox consoles recorded a 47% decrease in their sales in February compared to the previous year. A year that was already not necessarily glorious compared to its competitors.
The time for a renewal has come
This general decline testifies to a phenomenon that has started over time. Gamers are growing tired of the consoles they are offered. The Nintendo Switch, for example, is already 7 years old, which is a pretty standard lifespan for a generation. However, we still have no sign of its successor, at least officially.
After a period of high demand due to the pandemic and restocking issues, PlayStation and Xbox are now reaching their glass ceiling. It is not for lack of trying everything to boost sales at the end of the year with slight variations of their current consoles – the PS5 “Slim” for Sony and the black Xbox Series S 1TB for Microsoft. However, these alternatives are not enough to restore the enthusiasm of the players.
Worse, they tend to annoy them. But things could soon move on the side of all the manufacturers, starting with the one at the bottom of the basket. It is time for Microsoft and Sony to release their mid-generation console. According to leaks from 2023, the new Xbox should arrive in October, while the PS5 Pro will arrive either at the end of the year or in early 2025. The Nintendo Switch 2 is expected in early 2025 following an internal postponement.
Until then, current consoles will continue to be drained, much to the dismay of gamers. We can also see a real shift in the strategy of companies, which are focusing more on creating an ecosystem full of accessories – PlayStation Portal, PSVR 2, Pulse Explore, Pulse Elite, Dualsense Edge, etc. In this respect, they are the big winners with 1.6 million sales in Europe for the month of February.
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