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The PS5 has seen an 300% increase in UK sales compared to February last year, according to digital sales date.
First reported by Gamesindustry.biz, the console had seen a massive increase in sales, while the Xbox Series X/S also saw an increase in sales of 21%, whereas the Switch had seen a drop of 15%
The Switch’s figures are understandable, given the console is roughly six years old at this point, with a lesser number of massive AAA releases on the platform compared to its competitors from Sony and Microsoft. The Xbox Series X/S continues to grow, which is good news of course, but why has the PS5 seen such a gigantic growth spurt from last year? It’s safe to say Forspoken didn’t cause that sales surge.
The answer may very well be supply. All throughout last year, the PS5 suffered from a serious supply deficit thanks to COVID 19 and a global shortage of electronic componants. This set the company of the back foot, and with the console releasing at the tale end of 2020, this shortage continued throughout pretty much the entirety of 2021 and much of 2022!
This, as you can imagine, resulted in a lower sales figure in February 2022 than the world would have otherwise expected. But, the Xbox Series X also released in November 2020, so wouldn’t it have also felt a bump in sales?
According to VGCharts, the PS5 was the best selling console in the UK in 2022. As such, it’s possible that the console is simply what UK gamers prefer. The answer for the sales surge may lay with wizardry, as the digital sales data also shows staggering sales figures for Hogwarts Legacy.
The game sold over double that of Elden Ring during its launch week, and according to Gamesindustry.biz’ aforementioned report, is set to outsell the incredibly popular FromSoftware RPG in just three weeks. It’s entirely possible that this game was a significant force behind the PS5’s huge increase in UK sales.
With that in mind, do you think the PS5 can maintain this sales momentum? Or is it a flash in the pan, thanks to a singular games drop? Let us know below what you think!