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Nintendo Switch Sports Tops Europe Charts for May 2022, PS5 and XS Sales Jump 26%

Nintendo Switch Sports Tops Europe Charts for May 2022, PS5 and XS Sales Jump 26% - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 09 June 2022 / 3,452 Views

Nintendo Switch Sports took first place on the Europe charts for May 2022, according to GSD data reported by GamesIndustry.  This is based on the game's physical sales alone as Nintendo does not share digital figures.

The game was a big hit in France and Germany, with those two countries counting for over half of all copies sold in Europe. The game was also the top game in Spain and Italy. 

FIFA 22 is up one spot to second place, while Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga dropped down from first to third place. Grand Theft Auto V is up one spot to fourth place and Elden Ring dropped to fifth place.

Nintendo Switch Sports Tops Europe Charts for May 2022, PS5 and XS Sales Jump 26%

There were a total of 7.9 million games sold in May across Europe, which is a decrease of 29 percent compared to April 2022 and down 21 percent compard to May 2021. 

Nearly 4.5 million of the games sold last month in Europe were digital. 

There was over 297, 000 video game consoles sold across Europe in May. However, it should be noted the hardware charts exclude two major European countries - the UK and Germany. This is down three percent compared to April 2022 and down three compared compared to May 2021.

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in Europe with around 135,000 units sold. This is the eighth straight month the Switch topped the hardware charts.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S sales increased 26 percent compared to April 2022 as there was more stock available.

For 2022 year-to-date (January through May 2022), the PS5 has seen a drop of around 50 percent compared to the same period in 2021. The Xbox Series X|S sales are about the same as last year, while the Nintendo Switch is up 20 percent.

Elden Tops the Europe Charts in March, Switch Best-Selling Console and Xbox Series X|S Takes 2nd

Top 20 Games in Europe in April 2022, according to GSD (Digital + Physical):

Position Title
1 Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo)*
2 FIFA 22 (EA)
3 Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Warner Bros)
4 Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
5 Elden Ring (Bandai Namco)
6 NBA 2K22 (2K Games)
7 Horizon Forbidden West (Sony)
8 Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*
9 Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
10 Gran Turismo 7 (Sony)
11 Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Nintendo)*
12 Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Nintendo)*
13 Minecraft: Switch Edition (Mojang)
14 Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft)
15 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (EA)
16 Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo)*
17 Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft)
18 Mario Party Superstars (Nintendo)*
19 Hearts of Iron IV (Paradox)
20 The Sims 4 (EA)

* 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.

Digital data includes games sold in Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE and United Kingdom.

Physical data includes all games, but only those sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Console hardware sales cover Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Accessories sales cover the same markets, but doesn't include Switzerland.


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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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8 Comments
2zosteven (on 09 June 2022)

GTAV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • +4
G2ThaUNiT (on 09 June 2022)

Good lord, so that's purely from physical sales for Switch Sports?! I can't wait to see what the numbers really look like!

  • +2
SvenTheTurkey G2ThaUNiT (on 09 June 2022)

Those were my thoughts. The leg strap doesn't seem to warrant the physical purchase compared to the convenience of digital.

  • 0
Kakadu18 SvenTheTurkey (on 10 June 2022)

Some people already have the leg strap from RFA and others buy it separately.

  • 0
SvenTheTurkey Kakadu18 (on 10 June 2022)

Right. That's what I meant. Getting it physical doesn't add much compared to digital. Especially since the game is like 2GB.

And actually, that's a very good point about ring fit. There's likely a lot of overlap in the audience.

  • 0
UnderwaterFunktown (on 09 June 2022)

The Switch being up 20 % in Europe is pretty wild. It did have kind of a late start there, but I still would have expected it to have more or less peaked by now. But looking at VgChartz estimates isn't the Switch actually down YoY in Europe in those? That also includes the UK and Germany of course and Switch should be down in the UK if I remember correctly, but still seems like a major difference.

  • +1
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