PS5 exclusives were notably absent from the top PlayStation Store downloads for 2023
Sony's first-party PS5 games failed to disrupt the download charts
Sony has shared a list of PlayStation Store’s top downloads of 2023, and there’s a notable lack of PS5 first-party exclusives.
Topping the list of most downloaded PS5 games was Hogwarts Legacy. Despite the internet urging people to boycott the game due to its ties to author JK Rowling, Hogwarts Legacy dethroned Call of Duty, which tends to be the most popular game every year.
Sony’s Spider-Man 2 was the most downloaded first-party PS5 exclusive, earning an admirable third-place finish. But you won’t find any other genuine exclusives from Sony’s studios on the list.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: PS5 download charts
🥇 Sony has revealed the most downloaded PS5 games
🧙 Hogwarts Legacy took the number one spot
👀 The list is dominated by third-party, cross-platform games
🤔 Only two genuine PS5 exclusives made the list
The next PS5 exclusive of note is Final Fantasy 16, which earned the number 12 spot. Every other position is taken up by major multiformat releases such as Madden NFL 24, NBA 2K24, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Diablo 4 and Resident Evil 4 remake.
It shows that while exclusives are important for attracting new users and helping a console separate itself from the competition, it’s third-party releases that still make up the vast majority of sales, and shows why Sony was so against Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard.
The situation hasn’t been helped by Sony’s lack of first-party releases, though. We’ve seen a handful of PS5 exclusives this generation, with the majority arriving during the first two years of the PlayStation 5’s launch.
Sony has fallen back on releasing remasters and remakes, with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered the latest PS4 game that’s been revamped for PS5. A quick look at the upcoming PS5 games for 2024 shows that the situation isn’t set to change anytime soon, with no first-party PlayStation 5 games announced.
Sony is once again relying on timed exclusivity deals with third-party developers, with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin and Helldivers 2 the most notable releases on PS5 in 2024.
That hasn’t impacted PS5 sales, however. Sony recently announced it had sold over 50 million PS5 consoles, which is just behind the PS4 when it comes to life-to-date sales.