NPD Group: Total Industry Consumer Spending on Video Games in U.S. Increases 24 Percent to $9.1 Billion in the Third Quarter of 2018

Third quarter U.S. sales for total video games industry

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Nov. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ – According to the Q3 2018 Games Market Dynamics: U.S.* report from leading global information company The NPD Group, overall total industry consumer spending on video gaming in the U.S. reached $9.1 billion in the third quarter of 2018 (July-Sept.), an increase of 24 percent 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 first half of the year 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 Q3 2018 when compared to a year ago, with headset and game card sales setting all-time records in Q3 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.

“The Video Game market in the U.S. continues to thrive with compelling gaming content expanding the market, driving higher spending of hardware, accessory and software,” said Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group. “And with the sales strength of recent releases such as Marvel’s Spider-Man and NBA 2K19, combined with cross-platform titles such as Fortnite, there appears to be no slowing down as we head into the final stretch of the holiday shopping season.”

Methodology: Games Market Dynamics: U.S. provides a comprehensive measure of the consumer spend on video games in the U.S. including purchases of video games hardware, software and accessories as well as on PC games. It is released on a quarterly basis and provides insight and trending into the broader consumer spend on the industry including physical format sales such as new and used physical retail sales as well as game rentals, and digital format sales including full game digital downloads and downloadable content (DLC), spending on subscriptions and mobile gaming. This assessment of the broader consumer spend on the industry utilizes NPD’s monthly POS tracking services as well as consumer data from other NPD trackers, monitors, and reports.

*Accessory sales exclude game cards