According to The NPD Group, total video game spending in October—which includes hardware, software, and accessories—fell to $825 million, which is down 11 percent versus a year ago. Gains in hardware spending were offset by declines in software and accessories.
Dollar sales of console, portable, and PC games software combined to reach $474 million last month. This is down 20 percent versus a year ago, due to a difficult October 2016, which featured the launch of Battlefield 1. Year-to-date, consumer spending is up 3 percent to $4.2 billion.
Middle Earth: Shadow of War was last month’s best-selling game overall, and also held the top spot on both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms. Sales grew more than 20 percent when compared to the launch month of the previous release in the franchise, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which debuted in September 2014.
Super Mario Odyssey debuted at No. 3 on the all platforms chart, and held the top spot for Nintendo Switch. Super Mario Odyssey drove the third highest launch month in packaged software sales for a Mario action/adventure title in tracked history, following only New Super Mario Bros Wii and Super Mario Galaxy.
October sales of racing games more than doubled when compared to a year ago, and to date racing game sales are already up 37 percent this year. This year, role-playing games (RPG) continued to show strength, with last month’s sales growing more than 20 percent. Sales of RPGs are up 43 percent year-to-date.
Destiny 2 is now the second best-selling game of the 12-month period ending last month, surpassing Battlefield 1, which fell to third. Destiny 2 is the year’s best-selling game to date.
After two months in market, NBA 2K18 is the best-selling sports game for the 12- month period ending last month. The game remains the best-selling sports game year-to-date, and is now the second best-selling game of the year overall. Mario Kart 8 joined the top 10 best sellers of this year, replacing Mass Effect: Andromeda at No. 10. The game finished last month at No. 16 overall for the month, and No. 3 on Nintendo Switch.
Ubisoft was the best-selling publisher for last month, and Activison Blizzard remains the top selling publisher year-to-date.
Hardware spending grew 10 percent last month versus a year ago to $238 million. Spending growth was driven by Nintendo Switch and the SNES Classic.
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform of the month, while Sony’s PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling hardware platform year-to-date.
Hardware spending has grown to $2.3 billion, which is up 19 percent year-to-date versus last year. Consumer spending on Nintendo Switch and Plug N Play devices, including SNES Classic and the PlayStation 4, continues to provide growth.
Total spending on accessories and gamecards fell to $113 million, which is down seven percent last month compared to a year ago. Spending on steering wheels more than doubled compared to a year ago, driven by new releases, including Forza Motorsport 7 and Gran Turismo Sport.
The PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller Black was the best-selling accessory of last month, and it is now the best-selling accessory year-to-date. The Gold Wireless Stereo Headset from Sony is the best-selling deadset year-to-date for the PlayStaion 4, while Turtle Beach’s Ear Force Recon 50X Gaming Headset is the best-selling headset year-to-date for Xbox One.
