U.S. video game spending fell 5% y/y in January, says NPD

NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories totaled $4.3B in January 2023, a decline of 5% when compared to a year ago. Video game hardware spending was flat, while content (-5%) and accessories (-14%) spending fell. January 2023 marks the first time the U.S. video game market experienced a year-on-year decline since September 2022, when consumer spending reached 4% below September 2021 levels. Drops in mobile content, physical console content and gamepad spending drove the January shortfall. Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was the best-selling game of January, the 4th consecutive month the title has led the market in premium software dollar sales. Four new games ranked among the top 20 best-selling games of January led by Electronic Arts’ (EA) "Dead Space" remake, which was 2nd. Sony‘s (SONY) "The Last of Us: Part I" jumped from #36 on the chart in December to #11 in January, helped in part by the debut of "The Last of Us" HBO (WBD) series. U.S. video game hardware spending was flat compared to a year ago, at $393M. Growth in PlayStation 5 and Switch (NTDOY) hardware spending was offset by declines across other platforms. PlayStation 5 was the U.S. market’s best-selling hardware platform of January 2023 in both unit and dollar sales, with Switch ranking 2nd across both measures. Accessories spending fell 14% in January when compared to a year ago, falling to $165M. A drop in Gamepad spending accounted for most of the overall decline. The PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was the best-selling accessory of January in dollar sales. Other top-selling games for the month were EA’s "Madden NFL 23" and "FIFA 23," Nintendo’s "Fire Emblem Engage," Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) "Elden Ring," and Square Enix’s (SQNXF) "Forspoken." Other publicly traded companies int he video game space include Microsoft (MSFT), Ubisoft (UBSFY), Capcom (CCOEY), Take-Two (TTWO), Sega Sammy (SGAMY), and Tencent (TCEHY). Reference Link