June 2019 U.S. video game sales report from The NPD Group
Analysis from NPD's VG industry analyst, Mat Piscatella
June 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards reached $959 million, 13 percent lower than a year ago. All categories of spending declined.
Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards has fallen 4 percent when compared to 2018, to $5.6 billion. Declines in hardware spending have offset growth in sales of accessories & game cards.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales - June 2019
5-Week Reporting Period : 6/2/2019 through 7/6/2019
| June 2019 Dollar Sales | June'18 | June'19 | CHG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Video Game Sales | $1,100m | $959m | -13% |
| Video Games Hardware | $350m | $235m | -33% |
| PC & Video Games Software ** | $388m | $386m | -1% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $362m | $338m | -7% |
| 2019 Year-to-Date Dollar Sales | 2018 YTD (Adjusted)* | 2019 YTD | CHG |
| Total Video Game Sales | $5,880m | $5,616m | -4% |
| Video Games Hardware | $1,630m | $1,303m | -20% |
| PC & Video Games Software ** | $2,504m | $2,551m | 2% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $1,746m | $1,762m | 1% |
* 2018 YTD adjusted to include same number of tracking weeks in year
** Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, Steam and Xbox platforms
Software (all notes refer to dollar sales)
Dollar sales of tracked video game software totaled $386 million in June 2019, declining 1 percent when compared to a year ago. Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked video game software have increased 2 percent, to $2.6 billion.
Super Mario Maker 2 was June's best-selling video game. Super Mario Maker 2 set a new record high for launch month sales of a Mario Maker title, surpassing both the September 2015 release of Super Mario Maker and the December 2016 release of Super Mario Maker 3DS.
Crash Team Racing : Nitro Fueled ranked as the second best-selling game of June. Sales of Crash Team Racing : Nitro Fueled represent the highest launch month total in Crash Bandicoot franchise history. The previous best was set by Crash Bandicoot : N. Sane Trilogy, which debuted on the PlayStation 4 in June 2017.
Mortal Kombat 11 was the third best-selling game of June and remains the best-selling game of 2019 to date. Lifetime sales of Mortal Kombat 11 have now surpassed those of Mortal Kombat (2011), placing Mortal Kombat 11 third in franchise history, with lifetime sales trailing only Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat III.
Marvel's Spider-Man returns to the top 10 in June, ranking as the seventh best-selling game of the month, and is the fifth best-selling title over the trailing 12 month period. Marvel's Spider-Man continues to be the best-selling superhero game in U.S. history.
Kingdom Hearts III was the second best-selling game of 2019's first half. Kingdom Hearts III is the best-selling game in Kingdom Hearts franchise history.
June 2019 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales
| Title | Rank | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Maker 2* | 1 | Nintendo |
| Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled | 2 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Mortal Kombat 11 | 3 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 4 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Minecraft# | 5 | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | 6 | Nintendo |
| Marvel's Spider-Man | 7 | Sony (Corp) |
| NBA 2K19 | 8 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Mario Kart 8* | 9 | Nintendo |
| Days Gone | 10 | Sony (Corp) |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege | 11 | Ubisoft |
| Red Dead Redemption II | 12 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | 13 | Nintendo |
| MLB 19: The Show | 14 | Sony (Corp) |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII^ | 15 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Tom Clancy's The Division 2^ | 16 | Ubisoft |
| New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | 17 | Nintendo |
| Assassin's Creed: Odyssey | 18 | Ubisoft |
| Super Mario Party* | 19 | Nintendo |
| God of War 2018 | 20 | Sony (Corp) |
Hardware
Hardware spending in June 2019 dropped 33 percent when compared to a year ago, to $235 million. Year-to-date hardware spending has declined 20 percent versus year ago, to $1.3 billion. Nintendo Switch is the only platform showing year-on-year growth.
Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform of both June as well as the first half across both unit and dollar sales.
Accessories & Game Cards
Total June 2019 spending on accessories and game cards fell 7 percent when compared to a year ago, to $338 million. Year-to-date sales of accessories and game cards has declined 1 percent when compared to a year ago, to $1.8 billion. Growth in gamepad spending has not been able to offset declines across other segments.
The PS4 DualShock 4 Black Wireless Controller was the best-selling accessory of June 2019, and remains the best-selling accessory year to date.