Overall total industry consumer spending on video gaming in the U.S. reached $9.1 billion in the third quarter of 2018 (July to Sept.), according to the Q3 2018 Games Market Dynamics: U.S* report from The NPD Group. This marks an increase of 24 percent when compared to the same time period last year.
Video game content sales increased 25 percent to $7.9 billion. All content categories, which include full-game, DLC/MTX, subscriptions, and mobile saw increases, with mobile games and digital content for console and portable platforms experiencing the most growth.
The software titles having the most positive impact on dollar sales in the third quarter include (listed alphabetically) Candy Crush Saga, Fortnite, Madden NFL 19, Marvel’s Spider-Man and NBA 2K19.
Hardware sales grew 11 percent in the quarter to $737 million, led by Xbox One, PS4 and Plug & Play devices like NES Classic and SNES Classic. Accessory sales grew 44 percent in the third quarter when compared to a year ago, with headset and game card sales setting all-time records in dollar spending. Game cards sales reached a record high, growing 63 percent to surpass accessories for the first time in the third quarter of a calendar year.
