IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
In 16 of 19 countries surveyed, the latest FIFA version dominated the European games market in 2020.
Although the Euros did not take place in 2020 and most other matches were played in front of empty stands, there was one thing that did not change in the world of football last year: the FIFA simulation series remained the gold standard for video games and now tops the annual European games charts by some margin. According to a special crossplatform evaluation undertaken by GfK Entertainment, FIFA 21 posted outstanding sales everywhere and was the most successful game in 2020 in 16 of the 19 countries surveyed. The latest iteration in the series has thus followed on from its predecessors FIFA 20, FIFA 19 and FIFA 18, which dominated the market in 2019, 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The two Nintendo titles Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ranked second and third in the annual European games charts. The former was the most successful video game in France in 2020 and reached the top three in half the 19 countries analysed, while the latter earned a place on the podium in seven regions.
Even though they first appeared some years ago, the long-runners GTA V and Minecraft are still as popular as ever. The open world game performed strongest in eastern Europe (Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Hungary) as well as in Denmark and Portugal, while the block-based game gave players in southern Europe in particular (Italy, Portugal and Spain) as well as in Finland a lot of enjoyment. The survival adventure The Last Of Us Part II, which was published in 2020, took top chart positions in the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia and Sweden.