Consumer spending in the video game industry down 13 percent last quarter

[Tudor Cibean]

In a nutshell: In the second quarter, US consumer spending on video game content fell by 13 percent year-over-year, and hardware and accessories dropped by one and 11 points, respectively. Regarding consoles, the Nintendo Switch sold the most units, while the PlayStation 5 generated the most money. Meanwhile, MultiVersus overtook Elden Ring as the biggest-selling game last month.

Market research group NPD's report on US consumer spending on video game content reveals that sales for hardware and accessories fell to $12.35 billion in the second quarter, a 13 percent decline year-over-year. The reasons behind this decline reportedly include continued console supply constraints (mainly the PlayStation 5), a reduced number of new game releases, rising living costs, and the return of experiential spending (travel, attending live events, etc.). However, NPD notes that consumer spending is still above pre-pandemic levels.

Overall video game content spending, including physical and digital sales, DLCs, microtransactions, and subscriptions across consoles, cloud, mobile, portables, PC, and VR tanked by 13 percent last quarter to $10.97 billion. Subscription content was the only segment to post positive gains, while mobile game spending dropped 12 percent.

US NPD PREMIUM GAMES - July 2022 Top 20 Sellers pic.twitter.com/a2YXDdqwp0

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) August 19, 2022

Video game hardware sales remained relatively steady last quarter, dropping by only one percent YoY. The Nintendo Switch family sold the most units, while the PlayStation 5 generated the highest dollar sales in the period. Spending on video game accessories fell by 11 percent in the second quarter, mainly due to a drop in gamepad sales.

In July, MultiVersus dethroned Elden Ring as the best-selling video game (in dollars), despite only releasing on the 19th. MultiVersus is a free-to-play game, but in-game microtransactions coupled with Founders Packs containing character tickets used to unlock fighters helped it make more money than paid games.

The fighting game saw the most success on Xbox platforms, followed by Elden Ring and Call of Duty: Vanguard. On PlayStation, Elden Ring came out on top, with MLB: The Show 22 also doing better than MultiVersus. Meanwhile, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was the best-selling game of July on the Nintendo Switch, with Mario Kart 8 and Kirby and the Forgotten Land rounding out the top three.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/95716-consumer-spending-video-game-industry-down-13-percent.html

 

[FaTaL]

Because all new games are low quality dogsht

 

[RudyBob]

Every thing gets boring and repetitive. It's a cycle. It'll change. I'm not buying until they remaster Heretic.

 

[yRaz]

Because all new games are low quality dogsht

that and there is actually stuff to do this time of year. On top of that, china can't play vidya anymore

 

[ZedRM]

People, the pandemic is effectively over. People are spending more time outside and less time & money on games.

I'm not buying until they remaster Heretic.

That would be nice, but unlikely. Instead, look up GZDoom. Enjoy!

 

[RudyBob]

People, the pandemic is effectively over. People are spending more time outside and less time & money on games.


That would be nice, but unlikely. Instead, look up GZDoom. Enjoy!

I play it daily. Tried out the voxel mod

 

[George Keech]

I would also argue people are spending less full stop.

Inflation is up economies are tanking and you can go outside, these news stories are really quite deceptive.

 

[Faelan]

Lol - ya think I’m going to fork out the money and fire up my 12900K/3090 to play your latest greatest copy paste boring as hell micro transactions infested AAA title while Europe is melting and electricity price is through the roof?

Well, temperature is OK now where I live, but because of the energy crisis, I do find myself being more picky about which title to play and whether I have to fire up the big boy or if I can get just as good of an experience on my gaming laptop.

Anyway, seeing Minecraft on the list made me chuckle. I bought that for 10 euro during Alpha about a billion years ago before all the kids jumped on it. It was actually Minecraft plus the fall of MMORPGs that opened up my eyes to indie/niche games and questioning whether AAA games are really worth it. Kinda ironic, no?

 

[Hodor]

It's because of the war in Ukraine.

 

[loki1944]

Inflation; burned out on gamingdue to more time at home; cost of computer components; lack of quality games.