U.S. video game consumer spending rose 2% y/y in February, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said last week that projected U.S. total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories grew 2% in February compared to the same period last year, to $4.7B. 17% growth in Mobile content spending vs last year helped offset a 30% drop in hardware. To go along with the growth in Mobile, February 2024 consumer spending in the PC, Cloud and Non-Console VR content segment increased by a high single-digit percentage when compared to a year ago, while both the Console as well as the Subscription content segments declined. Sony‘s (SONY) “Helldivers II” debuted as the best-selling premium game of the year. The “Helldivers II” launch month dollar sales represent the 7th highest total ever achieved by a Sony published title in the U.S. (excludes add-on content). Nearly 60% of “Helldivers II” sales in February came from Steam. Square Enix’s (SQNXF) “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” was the #2 best-selling premium game of February, instantly becoming the 4th best-selling game of 2024 YTD. Also debuting on the chart in February was the “Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack,” placing 8th in February and at #16 for the year. Epic’s “Fortnite” led in monthly active users across both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series (MSFT) consoles, with Activision’s “Call of Duty HQ” again ranking 2nd across both platforms. February video game hardware spending declined 30% when compared to a year ago, to $349 million. All console platforms were down a minimum of 19% compared to a year ago. PlayStation 5 led the February and year-to-date hardware market in both unit and dollar sales. Nintendo Switch (NTDOY) finished 2nd in unit sales, while Xbox Series placed 2nd in dollars across both time periods. Other top-selling games for the month were Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) “Tekken 8,” Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III,” Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” Electronic Arts’ (EA) “Madden NFL 24,” Ubisoft’s (UBSFY) “Skull & Bones,” and Sega’s (SGAMY) “Persona 3: Reload.”