Videogame sales flatten out as 'Modern Warfare II' leads game content rebound
Videogame industry sales in October were flat from the previous October - narrowly avoiding a 12th straight month of declines, and marking yet another month of an improving sales trajectory against tough comparisons from 2021.
Overall sales came in at $4.271B, just as they had in October 2021, according to NPD Group - and this time it was some previously surging hardware sales that declined, and some recently lackluster game content revenues that picked up, thanks as always to the latest Call of Duty release.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (NASDAQ:ATVI) debuted atop the firm's dollar-sales game chart, marking the 15th straight year that an entry in the CoD franchise debuted atop the sales list in its launch month. (Last year, Call of Duty: Vanguard also launched in the November tracking period, improving the outlook for October's comparison.)
That helped pace videogame content sales to a 2% year-over-year gain in October - the category's first increase in months - to $3.7B. Hardware sales by contrast fell 10%, to $424M, and accessory sales slipped 8% to $148M.
The trend has been improving: In June, year-over-year sales had fallen 11% from the previous June; in July, they fell by 9% from the previous July; in August, they had dropped 5% year-over-year; and in September, fell by 4%.
With 10 months of 2022 in the books, overall videogame sales year-to-date are down 7%, to $42.69B. Hardware sales are down 2% year-over-year, to $3.78B; accessory sales are down 12%, to $1.72B; and game content is down 8%, to $37.19B.
Back to October: In hardware's decline, double-digit surges in the big two next-gen platforms were offset elsewhere. The PlayStation 5 (NYSE:SONY) was the best-seller in unit and dollar terms, ahead of the Xbox Series (NASDAQ:MSFT). The best-selling accessory of October was the PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller Midnight Black.
In game content, five of the top 10 on the dollar sales chart were new releases. Just behind Modern Warfare II (ATVI) was the debut of Gotham Knights (WBD), and those two games bumped last month's leaders to No. 3 and 4: FIFA 23 (NASDAQ:EA) and Madden NFL 23 (EA).
Rounding out the top 10 was the debut of NHL 23 (EA) at No. 5; the debut of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (OTCPK:UBSFY) at No. 6; Persona 5 (Atlus) at No. 7; NBA 2K23 (TTWO) at No. 8; Bayonetta 3 (OTCPK:NTDOY) at No. 9; and Elden Ring (OTCPK:NCBDY) at No. 10.
Mobile game spending continued its slide - and barring a big holiday surge, it will fall year-over-year for the first time ever, Sensor Tower's Dennis Yeh notes. The top 10 mobile games by U.S. consumer spending for October: Candy Crush Saga (ATVI), Roblox (RBLX), Royal Match, Clash of Clans, Coin Master, PokÃ©mon Go (OTCPK:NTDOY), Evony, Township, Bingo Blitz (PLTK), and Homescapes.
Related tickers: OTCPK:NTDOY, SONY, MSFT, HEAR, LOGI, CRSR, EA, ATVI, TTWO, WBD, OTCPK:UBSFY, OTCPK:NCBDY, OTCPK:SQNNY, OTCPK:CCOEY, OTCPK:SGAMY, OTCPK:KNMCY, SKLZ, SE, NTES, OTCPK:TCEHY, RBLX. Retail stock: GME.
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