The report from market analysts Circana disclosed declines in total video games sales (-6%), video gaming hardware purchases (-40%), and video game content purchases (-3%). However, the data showed a year-to-date 2024 overall spending increase of 2% compared to the same period in 2023.
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According to Piscatella, the decline in total video game hardware spending could be attributed to Nintendo’s strong launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May 2023. However, Ghost of Tsushima ranked first on Circana’s top 20 best-selling premium games in May 2024.
Circana reveals video gaming market trends 2023 to 2024
May video game hardware spending declined 40% when compared to a year ago, to $202M, and is now 30% lower YTD. Through May, all current generation hardware platforms are showing double-digit percentage declines year-on-year in 2024, with Switch showing the most significant drop.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) July 8, 2024
Sharing Circana’s report on X, Piscatella highlighted year-on-year (YoY) and year-to-date (YTD) changes in the U.S. video game industry. In particular, the data showed that the overall video game sales dropped by $258M (6%) in the past year. However, the year-to-date video game sales in 2024 revealed a 2% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
According to Circana’s data, consumer spending on video game content, hardware, and accessories declined by 3%, 40%, and 8%, respectively. The year-to-date changes in 2023 and 2024 revealed gains in video game content by 6% and accessories by 8%, while video game hardware fell by 30%.
“Through May, all current generation hardware platforms are showing double-digit percentage declines year-on-year in 2024, with Switch showing the most significant drop.”
–Piscatella
Using data from Sensor Tower and Circana, Piscatella pointed out that the 13% growth in mobile content spending was unable to offset the 40% drop in console content spending. He, however, claimed that a 10% growth in headset spending was offset by the 12% drop in gamepad spending.
Video game rankings keep changing
According to Circana’s data, Helldivers II was the best-selling premium game during the year-to-date ending May 2024. However, the data shows that Ghost of Tsushima was the best in terms of tracked dollar sales. Piscatella’s statement on X suggested that Ghost of Tsushima was boosted by the title’s release on Steam.
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Piscatella revealed that while Helldivers II had been placed first on Steam, Fortnite topped both the Xbox Series and PS 5 platforms in monthly active users. xDefiant was also ranked 5th on PS5 and 6th on Xbox Series in video gaming monthly users.
“Other new releases appearing among the top 20 best-sellers of May included Homeworld 3 (14th) and F1 24 (18th).”
–Piscatella
The U.S. mobile gaming consumer spending in May 2024 showed a 13% growth compared to May 2023, according to Circana’s data. The data confirmed that the PlayStation Portal was ‘the best-selling accessory’ in dollar sales for year-to-date 2024.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Collins J. Okoth