Videogame sales drop for fourth month amid hardware slowdown
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Videogame sales fell year-over-year for a fourth straight month in February - now with broad drops across categories keeping up the slump vs. the prior year (and against some tough pandemic comparisons).
Overall sales fell 6% from February 2021, to $4.384 billion, according to NPD Group.
January's sales had fallen just 2% from the prior year. And December's had dipped 1%.
February's sales weren't lifted by hardware, as had been the case recently: Hardware dollar sales fell 27% to $295 million (and new-generation consoles were still hard to come by amid ongoing supply issues). Accessory sales dropped 7% to $180 million. And the biggest category, software/games, saw a 4% drop to $3.91 billion.
In hardware, the best-selling platform for the month in unit and dollar terms was the Nintendo Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY), followed on both counts by the Xbox Series S/X machines (NASDAQ:MSFT). PlayStation 5 (NYSE:SONY), meanwhile, leans on a strong January to keep reigning as 2022's top dollar-sales platform so far.
The drop in accessory spending deepened a slide that's now down 11% year-over-year. The best-selling accessory was again the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller (MSFT).
And the games dollar-sales chart had some unsurprising fresh blood near the top, as Elden Ring
(OTCPK:NCBDY) debuted on top, just ahead of fellow newcomer Horizon: Forbidden West (SONY). Both of those titles topped last month's leader, PokÃ©mon Legends: Arceus (OTCPK:NTDOY).
The PokÃ©mon game, meanwhile, finished just ahead of two other debuts: Dying Light 2: Stay Human
(OTCPK:SQNNY) at No. 4, and Total War: Warhammer III
(OTCPK:SGAMY) at No. 5. Holiday hit (and last month's No. 2) Call of Duty: Vanguard
(NASDAQ:ATVI) was in the sixth spot.
Rounding out the top 10: No. 7, Madden NFL 22
(NASDAQ:EA); No. 8, Mario Kart 8 (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 9, FIFA 22 (EA); and No. 10, Minecraft.
Turning to mobile games, spending dropped again - by 2.5% year-over-year - withdrawing from some record growth through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sensor Tower data show top mobile games by revenue were Candy Crush Saga (ATVI), Roblox
(NYSE:RBLX), Coin Master, Genshin Impact, PokÃ©mon GO (OTCPK:NTDOY), Garena Free Fire
(NYSE:SE), Evony: The King's Return, Clash of Clans, Homescapes, and Royal Match.
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