Call of Duty: War Zone | Source: Activision
Gamers are continuing to fuel massive growth for the U.S. video game industry.
The NPD Group‘s Q1 2021 Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report reflects a 30% spike in overall consumer spending from January through March versus last year. Gamers leveled up with $14.92 billion spent across console, PC, and mobile gaming, including hardware, software, accessories, and subscriptions.
“Consumer spending on video game products continued to thrive in the first quarter, delivering record results,” says Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group. “While we are still seeing elevated rates of both engagement and spending resulting from changes in consumer behavior driven by the pandemic, we are also seeing cyclical gains from the November launches of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The growth driven by these new platforms, combined with gains experienced in mobile, PC and VR content spending, as well as the continued strength of Nintendo Switch, have pushed the market to new highs.”
Hardware spiked 82% in the quarter while accessories jumped 42%. According to the report, content spending reached $12.8 billion.
Q1 2021 best-selling and most-played games
- Among Us
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Candy Crush Saga
- Fortnite
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Mario Kart 8
- Minecraft
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Super Mario 3D World
The NPD Group’s Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report tracks consumer spend on the video game category, including purchases of video games hardware, content, and accessories while providing insight on trends across physical sales — both new and used — along with game rentals, digital sales, DLC, mobile gaming, and more.
