U.S. video game consumer spending fell 5% y/y in October, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories in October fell 5% vs YA, to $4B. Declines were experienced across all categories of spend. The dip was partially driven by Call of Duty shifting release months. Year-to-date U.S. consumer spending across video game products remained 2% higher than a year ago, at $43.4B. Spending on video game content in October fell 4% when compared to a year ago, to $3.6B. Growth in physical console software and mobile spending was offset by declines in other areas, particularly digital premium downloads driven by the release date shift of “Call of Duty.” Publicly traded companies in the space include Microsoft (MSFT), SOny (SONY), Electronic Arts (EA), GameStop (GME), Nintendo (NTDOY), Take-Two (TTWO), Tencent (TCEHY) and Ubisoft (UBSFY).