Nintendo Switch was the best-selling games console during UK Black Friday
But down year-on-year and closely followed by Xbox
Nintendo Switch was the best-selling games console over Black Friday in the UK, GfK Entertainment reveals.
The hybrid machine accounted for 42% of all console's sold during the week. This is due to the return of last year's Black Friday Switch bundle, which included a Switch Neon machine, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online.
However, it's actually a far weaker performance than last Black Friday for Nintendo. The company faced strong competition this year, led by an aggressive offer by Xbox. Microsoft reduced its Xbox Series S machine to under £200 during Black Friday, and the platform accounted for 40% of all consoles sold during the week. PS5, which did receive some small discounts of its digital-only edition, accounted for 18% of sales.
"Console hardware volumes over Black Friday week are similar to last year and Switch was again No.1," said GfK boss Dorian Bloch. "However, overall Switch volumes are way down over Black Friday 2021, as both Sony and Microsoft also targeted Black Friday week with tempting offers."
All three consoles posted their biggest sales weeks of the year so far during the Black Friday period.
Overall, including physical games, accessories and consoles, Black Friday 2022 was slightly bigger than it was last year (up 4%). It is the eighth biggest Black Friday, out of the ten that have taken place in the UK so far.
The weakest Black Friday was back in 2020, which was subdued following the launches of PS5 and Xbox Series X and S just two weeks before.
"Black Friday 2013 week remains the biggest and coincided with the PS4 launch," Bloch added.
"Outside of Black Friday weeks, the biggest all-time week on record is back in 2020, which was the PS5 launch and the second week of the Xbox Series X and S."
Bloch adds that revenue during Black Friday 2022 was split 41% for consoles, 39% for accessories and 21% for physical games -- the smallest share for software to-date.
81% of sales of Black Friday 2022 sales were via online retailers, the second biggest share for online retailers so far. The biggest online share was during Black Friday 2020, which was the result of a country-wide lockdown caused by COVID-19.
Over in accessories, VR was once again a star performer, driven by the Meta Quest 2 with Resident Evil 4 bundle. Last week was the all-time No.1 for VR revenue in the UK, and No.5 in terms of unit sales.
"Controllers remained the No.2 gaming accessory," Bloch said. "This was driven in particular by Microsoft's controller deals and strong hardware sales for all three consoles, which drove controller take-up. It was the best controller week since Black Friday 2019."