Helldivers 2 led Europe’s February 2024 best-seller list, delivering a strong start to the year for digital entertainment in the region. In just the first month, sales across Europe reached 16.7 million units, marking a 21.2% year-over-year rise. The report, drawn from data compiled by the analytics firm GSD and published through GamesIndustry.biz, highlights a solid performance that outpaced several major releases and underscored the euro‑zone’s appetite for new multi‑platform titles.
Sales momentum for Helldivers 2 persisted for three straight weeks before a notable 28% dip in the fourth week. This pattern stands out in an industry where second-week drops are common, suggesting strong initial interest that cooled as weeks progressed but did not erase the overall momentum built in the first stretch of release. The rise and then the pause illustrate how early sales waves can shift with factors like week-by-week promotions, stockkeeping unit availability, and consumer spending cycles, all while keeping the title firmly in the conversation for regional audience interest.
Compared with other high-profile launches, Helldivers 2 outperformed Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by roughly 5% in the same period. By contrast, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth registered launch numbers that were about 23% lower than its predecessor, indicating that even strong long-running franchises face varied reception at the outset of new installments. Another notable entry, Skull and Bones, ranked ninth and carried a launch-to-weekly momentum that lagged behind the more established Sea of Thieves, revealing how genre and branding dynamics can influence early sales trajectories.
Among the region’s best-sellers, EA Sports FC 24, in second place, joined a lineup that included Grand Theft Auto V (fourth), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (fifth), Red Dead Redemption 2 (sixth), and Hogwarts Legacy (seventh). The presence of such titles underscores a blend of evergreen open-world experiences, modern sport simulations, and new IP or refreshed entries that maintain active player bases across Europe. Readers should note that these rankings reflect cumulative consumer purchases across platforms and retailers within February, capturing both physical and digital distribution channels, and benefit from attribution to the underlying market analytics conducted by GSD through GamesIndustry.biz coverage.
In the console hardware segment, February sales reached 474.4 thousand units, marking an 11% year-over-year gain. Yet when viewed against a five-week window, the figure shows a 14% decline. Platform performance varied: PlayStation 5 posted a modest drop of 2%, Nintendo Switch fell 17%, and Xbox Series saw a sharper 47% decrease. These shifts suggest a transitional period as the market absorbed new releases while consumer demand recalibrated after a peak season, with hardware momentum often pairing with software availability to shape overall market health.
Alongside these market movements, industry chatter continued to point toward future titles and potential strategic pivots in play formats and distribution. In a separate development, reports indicate a project with a codename inspired by mythic themes is taking shape in Pyatigorsk, described as an analogue to a well-known action franchise. While details remain preliminary, this note signals ongoing creative activity in the broader action-adventure space and the continued push to expand the genre’s offer in the upcoming seasons.