U.S. video game spending fell 7% y/y in November, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories fell 7% in November when compared to a year ago, to $5.9B. The decline was driven by a 24% drop in hardware spending and a 3% dip in content. 2023 year-to-date spending was 1% higher than a year ago, at $49.3B. November video game content spending dropped 3% when compared to a year ago, to $4.6 billion. An 11% decline in Console & Portable Content spending was partially offset by 3% growth across each of the Mobile, Subscription, and ‘PC, Cloud & Non-Console VR’ Content segments. A primary driver of the year-on-year decline in Console & Portable Content was the comparable strength of the new release slate. November video game hardware spending fell 24% when compared to a year ago, to $964M. All current generation consoles experienced a double-digit percentage decline in dollar sales when compared to a year ago, with Nintendo Switch showing the sharpest drop year-on-year. Sony‘s (SONY) PlayStation Portal debuted as the #4 best-selling hardware platform of November with the limited quantities available at launch selling out. PlayStation 5 remained the best-selling hardware platform in both unit and dollar sales during November 2023. Xbox Series (MSFT) ranked 2nd across both measures. Year-to-date hardware spending fell 1% when compared to the same period in 2022, at $5.0 billion. PlayStation 5 remains the best-selling hardware platform in both units and dollars 2023 year-to-date, with Nintendo Switch (NTDOY) placing 2nd across both measures. Other publicly traded companies in the space include Electronic Arts (EA), GameStop (GME), Take-Two (TTWO), Tencent (TCEHY) and Ubisoft (UBSFY).