U.S. video game spending in July rose 1% year-over-year, says Circana

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that July 2023 U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories totaled $4.2B, an increase of 1% vs YA. A decline in video game hardware spending nearly offset gains across both content and accessories. 2023 year-to-date spending has reached $30.7B, 1% ahead of a year ago. Spending on video game content increased by 2% in July vs YA, reaching $3.7B. On console and PC platforms, digital premium download spending gains offset declines in physical and digital add-ons. Both mobile and non-mobile video game subscription spending were up slightly. Gearbox’s “Remnant II” was the best-selling game of July, instantly becoming the #18 best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date. Two other new releases appeared among the month’s top 20 best-sellers, including Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “Pikmin 4” and Capcom’s (CCOEY) “Exoprimal.” Other top sellers during the month of July were Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) “Diablo 4” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” Square Enix’s (SQNXF) “Final Fantasy XVI,” Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” and Capcom’s “Street Fighter 6.” Other publicly traded companies in the video game space include Microsoft (MSFT), Sony (SONY), Tencent (TCEHY), Ubisoft (UBSFY), Electronic Arts (EA), Take-Two (TTWO), and Roblox (RBLX).