2021 was excellent for video games in France, so much so that it is a record year with 5.6 billion euros in turnover. This is up slightly from 1.6% compared to 2020.
2021, a record year for video games in France
Between 2019 and 2021, total sales of hardware (PC and consoles), games and accessories rose by 13.5%, announced the Syndicate of software publishers (Sell). “The year 2020 had been extraordinary, but special because of the context. This growth confirmed in 2021 is part of a real underlying trend. The French have never played so much”underlines the president of Sell, Julie Chalmette.
Under the effect of the arrival of new consoles, with the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S, and strong dynamism in sales of PCs intended for gaming, the video game market was driven by the growth of hardware, which generated historical revenue of 1.766 billion euros, representing growth of 22% over one year.
In 2021, there were 2.37 million console sales (+ 2.4%) and 991,000 PCs intended for gaming in total in France. With 795 million euros generated, console sales recorded their best performance since 2010 (873 million euros), with growth of 17%. Without the difficulties in supplying semiconductors, which did not allow manufacturers to meet the strong demand from players, the growth “would even have been stronger”, emphasizes Julie Chalmette. Console sales therefore benefit from a “huge reservoir of growth for the years to come because the demand is there”she adds.
best selling games
On the games side, it’s FIFA 22 which comes first. It has 1.59 million sales. We then find Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with 503,150 sales (not counting the eShop). FIFA 21 came in third with 501,483 sales. Here are the top 20 video games in France in 2021:
- FIFA 22 — 1.59 million sales
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — 503,150 sales (excluding digital)
- FIFA 21 — 501,483 sales
- Call of Duty: Vanguard — 486,957 sales
- Grand Theft Auto V — 469,634 sales
- Super Mario 3D World — 437,432 sales (excluding digital)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons — 433,286 sales (excluding digital)
- Pokémon Sparkling Diamond — 375,371 sales (excluding digital)
- Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition — 301,907 sales (excluding digital)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War — 287,912 sales
- Mario Party Superstars — 276,632 sales (excluding digital)
- Ring Fit Adventure — 259,379 sales (excluding digital)
- Pokémon Sparkling Pearl — 221,879 sales (excluding digital)
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales — 220,349 sales
- far cry 6 — 215,356 sales
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla — 214,369 sales
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD — 209,444 sales (excluding digital)
- Resident Evil Village — 173,893 sales
- Battlefield 2042 — 161,797 sales
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — 161,470 sales (excluding digital)
