U.S. video game spending rose 4% year-over-year in March, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that projected total U.S. spending on video game hardware, content and accessories gained 4% in March 2024 vs YA, reaching $4.9B. Mobile content spending grew 15%, offseting a 32% drop in hardware. Mobile’s strong performance was supplemented by a 3% increase in Console Content spend, along with a 2% gain in the PC, Cloud and Non-Console VR Content segment. Mobile accounted for 89% of the total year-on-year growth in video game content spending during the month. March video game hardware spending fell 32% when compared to a year ago, to $391M. PlayStation 5 (SONY), Xbox Series (MSFT) and Switch (NTDOY) spending each declined a minimum of 30% year-on-year. Hardware spending finished the first quarter down 24% versus the first quarter of 2023. Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Dragon’s Dogma II” debuted as the best-selling premium game of March and the 3rd best-selling game of 2024 YTD. With just one month in market, “Dragon’s Dogma II” has already surpassed the life-to-date tracked dollar sales of “Dragon’s Dogma” and “Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen” combined. Sony’s “Helldivers II” remains the best-selling premium game of 2024 year-to-date after placing 2nd in March. “Helldivers II” currently ranks 7th in lifetime US dollar sales for Sony published titles after just two months in market. Square Enix’s (SQNXF) “Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth” remained the 4th best-selling game of 2024 year-to-date, despite falling 5 spots in the monthly rankings to 7th in March after placing 2nd in February. Other top sellers for the month were Sony’s “MLB The Show 24,” Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III,” Sony’s “Rise of the Ronin,” Nintendo’s “Princess Peach: Showtime!,” Sega’s (SGAMY) “Unicorn Overlord,” and Take-Two’s (TTWO) “WWE 2K24.”