Video Games sales in U.S. (retail & digital) - July 2018
Analysis from NPD's VG industry analyst, Mat Piscatella
July 2018 spending across video game hardware, software, accessories & game cards grew 14 percent when compared to a year ago, to $749 million. Growth in hardware and accessories & game card spending offset a decline in full-game software sales.
Year-to-date spending across video game hardware, software, accessories & game cards is up 17 percent when compared to the same period a year ago, to $6.8 billion. Growth has occurred across all categories of spending, with accessories & game cards driving the largest dollar growth.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales - July 2018
4-Week Reporting Period : 7/8/2018 through 8/4/2018
| July 2018 Dollar Sales | Jul'17 | Jul'18 | CHG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Video Game Sales | $655m | $749m | 14% |
| Video Games Hardware | $182m | $217m | 19% |
| PC & Video Games Software [1] | $280m | $246m | -12% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $193m | $286m | 49% |
| 2018 Year to Date Dollar Sales | 2017 YTD | 2018 YTD | CHG |
| Total Video Game Sales | $5,807m | $6,769m | 17% |
| Video Games Hardware | $1,572m | $1,902m | 21% |
| PC & Video Games Software [1] | $2,687m | $2,807m | 5% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $1,548m | $2,060m | 33% |
[1] PC, Console and Portable ; Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the Steam, PlayStation and Xbox platforms
Software
Dollar sales of console, portable and PC games software totaled $246 million in July 2018, down 12 percent compared to a year ago. Year to date, software spending is up 5 percent versus year ago to $2.8 billion.
Octopath Traveler was the best-selling game of July 2018. July is the second consecutive month that a Nintendo Switch exclusive has topped the best-sellers chart (following Mario Tennis Aces in June). Half of July's top 10 best-sellers are Nintendo platform exclusives.
Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling title of the month of July on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. It ranked as the second best-selling title of the month, overall.
Nintendo Switch is the only platform showing year-on-year growth in full-game dollar sales with gains of nearly 70 percent when compared to a year ago, despite digital sales on Nintendo platforms not currently being tracked by The NPD Group. Year-to-date sales of full-game software on Nintendo Switch have more than doubled when compared to a year ago.
Nintendo is the top-selling full game software publisher for both July and year to date (Jan.-July).
Dollar sales of games rated by the ESRB as either Teen or Everyone have grown 22 percent year to date, to $1.2 billion. This group of titles accounts for 44 percent of overall consumer spending on full-game sales tracked by The NPD Group, an increase of 6 share points when compared to a year ago.
July 2018 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales
| Title | Rank | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Octopath Traveler* | 1 | Nintendo |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 2 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Mario Kart 8* | 3 | Nintendo |
| Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy | 4 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | 5 | Nintendo |
| Far Cry 5 | 6 | Ubisoft |
| Super Mario Odyssey* | 7 | Nintendo |
| The Crew 2 | 8 | Ubisoft |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege | 9 | Ubisoft |
| Mario Tennis Aces* | 10 | Nintendo |
| FIFA 18^ | 11 | Electronic Arts |
| LEGO Incredibles | 12 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| God of War 2018 | 13 | Sony (Corp) |
| Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker* | 14 | Nintendo |
| NBA 2K18 | 15 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Call of Duty: WWII | 16 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Detroit: Become Human | 17 | Sony (Corp) |
| MLB 18: The Show | 18 | Sony (Corp) |
| Minecraft^ | 19 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| Destiny 2^ | 20 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
* Digital sales not included
^ PC digital sales not included
Hardware
Hardware spending in July 2018 grew 19 percent when compared to a year ago, to $217 million. Gains were driven by Xbox One, Switch, and Plug N Play devices such as NES Classic Edition.
For the 2018 year to date period, hardware spending has increased 21 percent to $1.9 billion. Spending gains for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Plug N Play devices such as NES Classic Edition and Super NES Classic Edition have driven growth. Year-to-date hardware spending is at its highest level since 2011.
Nintendo Switch was July's best-selling hardware platform in both dollars and units sold. This is the seventh month that Switch has led in hardware dollar sales since launching in March 2017, and the first since December 2017.
Unit sales of Nintendo hardware in July 2018 reached its highest point for a July month since 2009.
Xbox One hardware sales continue to trend higher. Dollar sales grew nearly 50 percent in July and have now increased by more than 60 percent year to date.
Sony's PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console hardware platform year to date.
Accessories & Game Cards
Total spending on accessories & game cards grew 49 percent in July 2018 when compared to a year ago, to $286 million. This represents a record high for a July tracking period, with the previous record being set in July 2017, at $193 million.
Year to date, accessories & game card spending has grown 33 percent when compared to a year ago, to $2.1 billion. This is also an all-time high, significantly exceeding the $1.6 billion generated in the 2016 year-to-date period.
Gamepad and headset/headphone sales continue to show record breaking success. Gamepad spending in July 2018 is an all-time high for a July tracking period, besting the previous high set in July 2017 by 24 percent. Headset/headphone sales are also at a record high level in July 2018, with sales exceeding the previous high set in July 2015 by over 70 percent.
The Xbox One S White Controller was July's top revenue-generating accessory, while the PS4 DualShock 4 Black Controller has driven the highest dollar sales of any accessory year to date.