Switch Best-Selling Console in the UK in 2021, 36 Million Games and 3.36 Million Consoles Sold - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 January 2022 / 3,711 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the UK in 2021, according to GfK Entertainment. PlayStation 5 came in second, followed by the Xbox Series X|S.
It overtook the PS5 in the final weeks of the year and sold half a million units in November and December. It was the second best-selling year for the Switch, down compared to 2020.
Xbox Series X accounted for 43 percent of Xbox Series sales. The Series X accounted for just 24 percent of Xbox Series from July through September, while in the Holiday quarter it outsold the Series S.
There were 3.36 game consoles sold in the UK during 2021. Combined hardware sales were up 14 percent year-over-year. It should be noted 2021 included 53 weeks, while 2020 was 52 weeks.
GSD data shows that 35.8 million physical and digital games were sold in the UK in 2021. This is down 16 percent compared to 2020 and is up 38 percent compared to 2019.
15.3 million games were sold at retail, which is a 12.6 percent drop year-on-year and down seven compared to 2019. While 20.5 million digital games were sold, a drop of 18 percent year-on-year, but was up 43 percent compared to 2019.
FIFA 22 was the best-selling game in the digital and physical charts as sales outperformed FIFA 21 by 10.3 percent. Call of Duty: Vanguard came in second place as sales dropped 36.1 percent compared to 2020's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Grand Theft Auto V was the third best-selling game of the year with sales down 23 percent compared to 2020. FIFA 21 came in fourth place for the year, followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
F1 2021 was the next best-selling new release of the year. Sales for it were barely ahead of Far Cry 6.
If Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl were counted together it would have been in 10th place and been the best-selling Nintendo Switch game. However, it should be noted Nintendo does not share digital sales.
Here are the different charts:
GSD 2021 Top 25 Games (Digital + Physical)
| Position | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 22 (EA) | |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 3 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) | |
| 4 | FIFA 21 (EA) | |
| 5 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 6 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) | |
| 7 | Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony) | |
| 8 | F1 2021 (EA/Codemasters) | |
| 9 | Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft) | |
| 10 | Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft) | |
| 11 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)* | |
| 12 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)* | |
| 13 | Resident Evil Village (Capcom) | |
| 14 | Battlefield 2042 (EA) | |
| 15 | Minecraft: Switch Edition (Nintendo/Mojang)* | |
| 16 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Nintendo)* | |
| 17 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft) | |
| 18 | Mortal Kombat 11 (Warner Bros) | |
| 19 | LEGO Harry Potter Collection (Warner Bros) | |
| 20 | Pokémon Brilliant Diamond (Nintendo)* | |
| 21 | Minecraft (Mojang) | |
| 22 | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Square Enix) | |
| 23 | Just Dance 2022 (Ubisoft) | |
| 24 | NBA 2K21 (2K Games) | |
| 25 | The Crew 2 (Ubisoft) |
* Digital data unavailable
GSD 2021 Top 10 Games (Physical)
| Position | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 22 (EA) | |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 3 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo) | |
| 4 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) | |
| 5 | Minecraft: Switch Edition (Nintendo/Mojang) | |
| 6 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Nintendo) | |
| 7 | Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony) | |
| 8 | FIFA 21 | |
| 9 | Pokémon Brilliant Diamond (Nintendo) | |
| 10 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) |
GSD 2021 Top 10 Games (Digital)
| Position | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 22 (EA) | |
| 2 | Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar) | |
| 3 | Call of Duty: Vanguard (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 4 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Activision Blizzard) | |
| 5 | FIFA 21 (EA) | |
| 6 | Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar) | |
| 7 | F1 2021 (EA/Codemasters) | |
| 8 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft) | |
| 9 | Resident Evil Village (Capcom) | |
| 10 | Battlefield 2042 (EA) |
GfK 2021 Top 10 Accessories
| Position | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller - White (Sony) | |
| 2 | Xbox Wireless Controller - Carbon Black (Microsoft) | |
| 3 | Pulse 3D Wireless Headset for PS4/PS5 - White (Sony) | |
| 4 | PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller - Midnight Black (Sony) | |
| 5 | PS4 DualShock 4 Controller - Black (Sony) | |
| 6 | Xbox Wireless Controller - Robot White (Microsoft) | |
| 7 | Ear Force Recon 50X Headset Black (Turtle Beach) | |
| 8 | Ear Force Recon 50P Headset Black (Turtle Beach) | |
| 9 | DualSense Charging Station for PS5 (Sony)) | |
| 10 | Ear Force Recon 70X Headset Black (Turtle Beach) |
GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Big Ben Interactive, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Focus Home Interactive, Koch Media, Konami, Microids, Microsoft, Milestone, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Strelka, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and Bethesda are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.
Thanks, GamesIndustry.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
