According to the NPD Group report, June spending across video game hardware, software, and accessories and game cards grew 25 percent when compared to a year ago, to $1.1 billion. Significant growth in both hardware and accessories and game cards offset a slight decline in software.
Year-to-date spending across video game hardware, software, and accessories and came cards is up 17 percent when compared to the same period a year ago, to $6.0 billion. Growth occurred across all categories of spending, with the largest dollar growth coming from accessories and game cards.
Software
Dollar sales of console, portable and PC games software combined reached $374 million in June 2018, down 1 percent compared to a year ago. Year to date, software spending is up six percent versus year ago, to $2.6 billion.
Mario Tennis Aces was the best-selling game of June. The Nintendo Switch exclusive achieved the all-time highest month one sales for a tennis genre game in NPD tracked history. The previous record holder was Mario Tennis, which debuted on the N64 in September 2000’s tracking period.
God of War repeated as the month’s second best-selling title, and remains in the same position in year-to-date sales, trailing only Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5. God of War is now the 10th best-selling game of the rolling 12-month period ending June.
LEGO Incredibles debuted as the No. 7 best-selling game of June. LEGO Incredibles achieved the highest launch month dollar sales for a LEGO title since LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released in June 2016. LEGO Incredibles is the 25th LEGO release from publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.
Nintendo Switch was the only platform that produced software sales growth in June, with dollar sales more than doubling those of June 2017. Year-to-date software sales on Nintendo Switch are also more than double those of a year ago. Please note, The NPD Group does not currently track digital full-game software sales on Nintendo platforms.
Some super genres show particularly strong year-to-date performance. Sales of action games are up 30 percent on a year-to-date basis, while racing games (up 22 percent) and shooters (up 13 percent) are also experiencing double-digit percentage gains year on year.
Full-game software sales performance is being significantly impacted by the growth in sales of re-releases of existing games. Sales of these versions of released games, most often referred to as GOTY/complete/remastered/definitive/legendary/anniversary editions, have experienced sales growth of more than 150 percent this year when compared to a year ago, while sales of launch day versions of games, most often called standard/base/collector’s/limited/special editions are down slightly.
Nintendo was June’s top-selling publisher, while Ubisoft remains the best-selling publisher year to date.
Hardware
Hardware spending in June grew 52 percent when compared to a year ago, to $350 million. All current-generation platforms delivered sales growth. Gains were driven by Fortnite, promotions around the E3 period, and reinvigorated distribution of the NES Classic, among other factors.
For the 2018 year-to-date period, hardware spending has increased 21 percent to $1.7 billion. Spending gains for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Plug N Play devices such as the NES Classic and SNES Classic have driven growth.
The NES Classic was June’s highest unit-selling hardware platform, while the PlayStation 4 led the market in dollar sales. This is the first time a Nintendo Entertainment System console has led in monthly unit sales since NPD tracking began in 1995.
Xbox One hardware dollar sales nearly doubled in June 2018 when compared to a year ago, while Switch sales jumped over 50 percent. PlayStation 4 hardware dollar sales were also higher. Dollar sales of all other hardware grew more than 23x in the month when compared to a year ago, driven by sales of Plug N Play devices like the NES Classic and the SNES Classic.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console hardware platform in June, and remains the best-selling console hardware platform year to date.
Dollar sales of portable hardware grew seven percent in the June period when compared to the prior year, and are up two percent year to date.
Accessories & Game Cards
Total spending on accessories and game cards grew 38 percent in June 2018 when compared to a year ago, to $353 million. This represents a record high for a June tracking period.
Year to date, accessories and game card spending has grown 31 percent when compared to a year ago, to $1.8 billion. Game card spending has achieved an all-time high, while accessory spending has reached the highest year to date total since 2011.
Year-to-date sales of both headsets and gamepads have achieved all-time record highs for a June tracking period. The previous year-to-date high spending for headsets occurred in 2010, and for gamepads in 2016.
Sales of headsets/headphones doubled in June when compared to a year ago. Year to date, headsets/headphones spending has increased 86 percent. The Xbox One Ear Force Stealth 600 Wireless Headset from Turtle Beach is the year’s best-selling item in the headsets/headphones accessory type.
Gamepad spending grew 35 percent in June versus a year ago, with year to date spending growth of 25 percent. The PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller Black is the best-selling gamepad in both June year to date.
Sales of memory/RAM cards have also experienced significant growth. Year-to-date dollar sales of memory/RAM cards have increased 135 percent when compared to a year ago. Seagate’s Xbox One 2TB USB 3.0 Game Drive is the year’s best-selling item within the memory/RAM cards accessory type.
