Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II | Source: Activision

The U.S. video game industry was flat last month, and it has Call of Duty season to thank for floating the boat.

According to The NPD Group, consumer spending on video game content, hardware, and accessories totaled $4.3 billion during October 2022, flat versus 2021 sales. The release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II offset declines in mobile content and video game hardware sales by fueling a boom in digital sales and subscriptions for both console and PC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeVapCrI1pY

NPD’s Video Games industry Analyst, Mat Piscatella points out that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II marks the franchise’s 15th consecutive year of being the best-selling game in its release month.

Related: The Toy Book’s 2022 Innovation & STEM Issue is Here!

Year-to-date spending on video games for the first 10 months of the year is at $42.7 billion, a 7% decline over last year.

The biggest factor of concern right now is that sales of video game hardware continue to slide despite double-digit sales growth for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. Hardware sales dipped 10% in October.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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