PS5 and Xbox Series X sales jump in quiet May | UK Monthly Charts

Over 1.6 million games, 100,000 games consoles and 460,000 accessories were sold in the UK during May.

It was a tough month for the market overall. There were no major game releases last month, and as a result, sales were down 22% over May last year (which saw the release of Resident Evil: Village). 1.63 million digital and physical games were sold during May, GSD data reveals.

Compared with April, game sales are down 32%. April's biggest game was Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and the Warner Bros game was still No.1 in May, despite sales falling 87% month-on-month.

Although Lego Star Wars was the overall No.1, in terms of pure physical retail sales, Nintendo Switch Sports was No.1 (Nintendo doesn't share digital data). And in the digital charts, FIFA 22 was No.1.

The highest charting new game is Sniper Elite 5 at No.12, although this also only counts physical sales.

PS5 and Xbox Series X and S stock improves

It's been a tough year for console sales in the UK, primarily due to a lack of stock for PS5 and Xbox Series X. There's also been a decline for Nintendo Switch, although the console continues to comfortably sell more than it was managing pre-pandemic.

Overall, console sales are down 38.3% so far this year.

However, there is some signs of improvement, particularly for PS5. The platform is sitting in third place this year due to severe stock shortages between January and March. But that has picked up significantly over the last two months, and May is the console's biggest month of the year so far, with sales up 10% over April.

Xbox Series X and S had a slow April, but things have picked up in May, with sales up 58% month-on-month (primarily thanks to the Series X variety).

Finally, Nintendo Switch sales are down slightly by 3%.

Overall for May, console sales are up 16% (month-on-month) to 106,000 consoles sold (GfK panel data).

In terms of add-on products, 465,000 accessories were sold in the UK last month (GfK data). This is down 10% over April and a drop of 24.4% over May last year.

Considering the success of PS5 this month, it's no surprise to see the White DualSense controller hold its position at No.1. The Midnight Black variety sits at No.3, while the Cosmic Red has jumped up to No.4. The Wired Xbox controller is at No.2, and follows improved availability of Xbox Series X.

One item that has jumped up the charts is the Nintendo Switch Leg Strap at No.13. This is due to the recent release of Nintendo Switch Sports, which makes use of the accessory.

The GSD UK May Top 20 Best-Selling Video Games (Digital + Physical)

* Digital data unavailable

GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Major participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group (including Gearbox, Koch Media, Sabre Interactive), Focus Entertainment, Konami, Marvellous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.