Video Games sales in U.S. (retail & digital) - January 2018
Analysis from NPD's VG industry analyst, Mat Piscatella
January 2018 spending across video game hardware, software and accessories grew 59 percent when compared to a year ago, to $1.1 billion. Spending gains were seen across all categories. January 2018 total industry sales of $1.1 billion is the highest January industry total since 2011.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales - January 2018
5-week month ; Reporting Period 12/31/2017 through 2/3/2018
*Please note January 2017 was a 4 week reporting period.
| Dollar Sales | Jan'17 | Jan'18 | Chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Video Game Sales | $690m | $1,096m | 59% |
| Video Games Hardware | $127m | $278m | 119% |
| PC & Video Games Software (PC, Console and Portable ; Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the Steam, PlayStation and Xbox platforms) | $343m | $517m | 51% |
| Video Games Accessories & Gamecards | $220m | $301m | 37% |
Software
Dollar sales of Console, Portable and PC Games Software combined to reach $517 million in January 2018, up 51 percent versus a year ago. January dollar sales of software reached the highest total since the $549 million generated in January 2011.
Monster Hunter : World was the month's top-selling title overall, while also leading on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. Sales of Monster Hunter : World represent an all-time launch month high for the Monster Hunter franchise in the U.S.
Dragon Ball : Fighterz was the second best-selling game of January. Launch month sales of Dragon Ball : Fighterz were the highest for a Dragon Ball franchise release since Dragon Ball Z : Budokai, which released in December 2002. Dragon Ball : Xenoverse also made the January all platforms best-sellers chart, ranking at #16.
Software sales on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC all achieved significant growth of over 40 percent in January when compared to a year ago.
Capcom was January's leading publisher in software dollar sales.
January 2018 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales
| Title | Rank | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Monster Hunter : World | 1 | Capcom USA |
| Dragon Ball : Fighterz | 2 | Bandai Namco Games (Corp) |
| Call of Duty : WWII | 3 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Playerunknown's Battlegrounds^ | 4 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 5 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| NBA 2K18 | 6 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Super Mario Odyssey** | 7 | Nintendo |
| The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild** | 8 | Nintendo |
| Mario Kart 8** | 9 | Nintendo |
| Madden NFL 18 | 10 | Electronic Arts |
| Star Wars : Battlefront II^ | 11 | Electronic Arts |
| Assassin's Creed : Origins | 12 | Ubisoft |
| UFC 3 | 13 | Electronic Arts |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six : Siege | 14 | Ubisoft |
| FIFA 18^ | 15 | Electronic Arts |
| Dragon Ball : Xenoverse | 16 | Bandai Namco Games (Corp) |
| The Sims 4^ | 17 | Electronic Arts |
| Splatoon 2** | 18 | Nintendo |
| Dissidia : Final Fantasy NT | 19 | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| Need for Speed : Payback^ | 20 | Electronic Arts |
Hardware
Hardware spending in January 2018 grew 119 percent when compared to year ago, to $278 million. Spending gains were driven by Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hardware sales growth.
PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One all performed well in the month of January. In dollar sales, the gap between the top-selling platform and the third best-selling was only 3 percent.
January hardware dollar sales of $278 million is the highest level achieved since the $323 million sold in January 2011. Over one million units of hardware sold in January 2018, also the highest tally since January 2011.
January 2018 Nintendo 3DS hardware dollar sales are the best recorded for a January month since 2014, while unit sales were the highest since January 2013.
Accessories
Total spending on Accessories and Gamecards in January 2018 grew 37 percent versus year ago, to $301 million, a record high for a January month. The previous record of $272 million was achieved in January 2013.
Gamecards, Gamepads and Headsets/Headphones all reached record January sales levels in January 2018. The previous record high for Gamecard spending was January 2017, Gamepad spending January 2011 and Headset/Headphone spending January 2013.
Turtle Beach Headsets/Headphones represented 5 of the top 7 best-selling products in the segment.