Videogame sales fall for second month in December - but wrap a record year
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The eyes of videogame industry investors are squarely on mergers/acquisitions lately, between proposed tie-ups of Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) and Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO), and of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI); now they can add some mixed messaging from the latest monthly industry sales.

Overall sales fell for the second month in a row, after a previous six-month streak of year-over-year gains, according to NPD Group. But they declined just 1% (and content sales were flat), after November's sales slipped by 10% from the same month in 2020, suggesting the holiday season's second key month didn't go as badly as the first.
Sales overall in December dipped to $7.5 billion from 2020. But it capped a full year when videogame spending hit a record $60.4 billion (up 8% from 2020).
Content sales were flat as mentioned, at $5.734 billion, as gains in subscription/recurrent spending helped offset the decline of some premium game sales.
The slight overall dip, then, came from hardware sales that fell 3% in December year-over-year, to $1.319 billion; and accessory sales that slipped 9% to $493 million. As with content, full-year hardware sales were higher (up by 14% to $6.1 billion), and full-year accessory sales rose 2% to $2.7 billion.
Amid some ongoing shortages of new-generation consoles, Nintendo Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY) was December's top-selling platform by units; it also tied in dollar terms with the PlayStation 5 (NYSE:SONY) for the month. For the full year, the Switch was the top platform both by units and dollar sales.
The top-selling accessory for December was the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller (MSFT), while the year's top-selling accessory was the PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller White (SONY).
The content sales chart gives Microsoft another reason to look forward to closing its purchase: Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) Call of Duty: Vanguard was the top-selling game for the second straight month, and it used holiday sales to become 2021's top-selling game - just past its franchise sibling, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Meanwhile December's No. 2 selling game came from Microsoft; Halo: Infinite debuted in that spot (thanks to being the best-seller on Xbox platforms and among PC titles, analyst Mat Piscatella notes). In dollar sales, it finished ahead of PokÃ©mon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl (OTCPK:NTDOY); Madden NFL 22
(NASDAQ:EA); and Battlefield 2042 (EA).
Rounding out the console/PC top 10: No. 6, Mario Kart 8 (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 7, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (SONY); No. 8, Mario Party Superstars (OTCPK:NTDOY); No 9, NBA 2K22 (TTWO); and No. 10, Animal Crossing: New Horizons (OTCPK:NTDOY).
Once again, mobile spending proved a bright spot in the report: It marked its best December on record, and the third-best month in the past three years. And it capped off a 2021 where mobile game spending rose nearly 14% from 2020.
Sensor Tower notes 2021's top mobile games by revenue included Candy Crush Saga (ATVI), Roblox
(NYSE:RBLX), Coin Master, Garena Free Fire
(NYSE:SE), PokÃ©mon GO (OTCPK:NTDOY), Genshin Impact, Homescapes, Lords Mobile: Tower Defense, Call of Duty: Mobile (ATVI) and Clash of Clans.

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