Hogwarts Legacy Dominates Game Sales for 2023 in US & UK

As the end of 2023 approaches, it’s a good time to look back at the gaming industry to reflect on the legacy that was left behind. We have prepared a summary of the biggest gaming statistics from 2023 in a new report from GamesIndustry.biz.

One of the most anticipated launches of the year, Starfield, was the most covered game on the internet. A large number of leaks and ever-increasing anticipation were the prime reason behind such a large coverage worldwide.

Additionally, Xbox, of course being the platform for Starfield was the most covered company in 2023. From the launch of Starfield to Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard it was definitely a large year for the Xbox platform.

Hogwarts Legacy, a game based on the famous Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling managed to get the record for the most number of sales in the United States and the United Kingdom. The game developed by Warner Bros, was scored highest numbers compared to other competitors in physical sales. Unfortunately, though, the report does not include Digital Sales, otherwise records would have been different.

Moving forward to Consoles, 83% of the games on Console platforms were bought digitally and only 17% were bought physically. This statistic shows a positive trend towards a full digital console lineup.

This gives companies, confidence on digital consoles, which they were hesitant to launch at first, and from the user perspective, digital consoles offer a more easy-to-use mode of playing games, especially with increased internet bandwidth that takes a few hours to download large-sized games.

Mobile Gaming Record Revenue

With portable gaming on the rise, a massive shift in gaming revenue was also seen. 53% of the gaming revenue recorded was from Mobile Gaming, which is really interesting to see as most popular games are only being published on Console/PC.

With the rise of portable gaming, we have seen many brands coming forward and introducing portable handheld console lineups with strong hardware specifications, from the Asus ROG Ally to the Lenovo Legion Go, the portable world has just started to emerge.

Fortnite, on the other hand, rose from the dead in 2023 with Season OG. The nostalgic resurgence resulted in three new records for the game, as well as a new record for concurrent players. Epic Games and their all-time hit battle royale scored a huge victory with over 11 million concurrent players.

Their plan to bring back the original map was an enormous hit. People who had been away from the game for a long time returned to refresh their memories. The game hit the most number of views on Tiktok for the year 2023.

GTA VI

Now for the elephant in the room, the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI. The teaser, which was one of the major highlights of 2023, has over 154 million views on YouTube, shattering all kinds of records for the most viewed and liked non-music video of all time.

The game is scheduled to be launched in 2025, yet the anticipation was obvious given that it had been ten years since the last entry of the series was officially released.

2023 was a fantastic year for gaming, and it left a lasting impact on gamers all over the world. With 2024 almost here, it is time to raise expectations with several major developments and launches, including additional trailers for the upcoming GTA VI. This is all we know for the time being; please let us know what you think about the records in the comments section below.

Source: Gameindustry.biz