Call it déjà vu, but the U.S. video game industry is facing a boss level that it just can’t defeat: the global supply chain.
According to The NPD Group, video game hardware sales fell 27% in February of 2022 to lead an overall 6% drop for the industry last month. Declines were seen across all major categories of consumer spending on video games, including content, accessories, and hardware.
Year-to-date video game spending has already dipped 4% from 2021 as the ongoing shortage of video game hardware, including Sony’s Playstation 5, Microsoft X|S, and the Nintendo Switch continues fueling a ripple effect of sales declines at retail.
It’s a familiar tale, but Nintendo Switch — the most available of the current systems — led sales in February and remains the highest-selling platform in terms of unit sales this year. Playstation 5 leads the year for total dollar sales.
“February 2022 was the first time that February spending was down year over year since the start of the pandemic, in this case by 2.5%,” says NPD’s Video Game Analyst Mat Piscatella, “While it’s a sign the pandemic-fueled spending surge across mobile games as a whole is receding, there’s still plenty to be optimistic about in the category, which has seen a healthy influx of successful launches and new top-earning titles despite the overall cooldown.”
The Top 10 Console Games for February 2022:
- Elden Ring (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Horizon II: Forbidden West (Sony)
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Nintendo)
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human (Square Enix)
- Total War: Warhammer III (SEGA)
- Call of Duty: Vanguard (Activision Blizzard)
- Madden NFL 22 (Electronic Arts)
- Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo)
- FIFA 22 (Electronic Arts)
- Minecraft (Various)
