August 2019 U.S. digital/retail/e-tail video game sales report from The NPD Group
Analysis from NPD's VG industry analyst, Mat Piscatella
August 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards totaled $666 million, falling 18 percent when compared to a year ago. Declines were experienced across all categories.
Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards has fallen 6 percent when compared to 2018, to $7.0 billion. Declines in hardware spending have offset slight growth in software sales.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales - August 2019
4-Week Reporting Period : 8/4/2019 through 8/31/2019
| August 2019 Dollar Sales | Aug'18 | Aug'19 | CHG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Video Game Sales | $812m | $666m | -18% |
| Video Games Hardware | $214m | $167m | -22% |
| PC & Video Games Software ** | $341m | $257m | -24% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $257m | $242m | -6% |
| 2019 Year-to-Date Dollar Sales | 2018 YTD (Adjusted)* | 2019 YTD | CHG |
| Total Video Game Sales | $7,451m | $7,025m | -6% |
| Video Games Hardware | $2,061m | $1,633m | -21% |
| PC & Video Games Software ** | $3,099m | $3,142m | 1% |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $2,291m | $2,250m | -2% |
* 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 fell 22 percent in August versus a year ago, to $257m. This represents the lowest total software sales in an August month since August 1998 ($234m).
Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked video game software have increased 1 percent, to $3.1 billion. Nintendo Switch performance has driven the growth.
Madden NFL 20 repeated as the month's best-selling video game. This is the seventh consecutive year in which a Madden NFL game was August's best-selling. Madden NFL 20 is currently the third best-selling game of 2019.
Minecraft was the 2nd best-selling video game of August 2019, an all-time high placement on the best-sellers chart. Minecraft currently ranks as the 13th best-selling game of 2019, and is the all-time best-selling game in the strategy genre.
Age of Wonders : Planetfall from Triumph Studios and Paradox Interactive debuted as the 15th best-selling game of August. This is the first release in the Age of Wonders franchise since Age of Wonders III launched in March, 2014. Age of Wonders : Planetfall generated the highest launch month sales of any title in franchise history.
Five of the top 10 best-selling video games of August 2019 are Nintendo platform exclusives. Astral Chain launched as the 10th best-selling game of August, the only new release to place amongst the top 10 sellers of the month.
August 2019 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales
| Title | Rank | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Madden NFL 20^ | 1 | Electronic Arts |
| Minecraft# | 2 | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 3 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Fire Emblem: Three Houses* | 4 | Nintendo |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | 5 | Nintendo |
| Super Mario Maker 2* | 6 | Nintendo |
| Mario Kart 8* | 7 | Nintendo |
| Mortal Kombat 11 | 8 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege | 9 | Ubisoft |
| Astral Chain* | 10 | Nintendo |
| Marvel's Spider-Man | 11 | Sony (Corp) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | 12 | Nintendo |
| Red Dead Redemption II | 13 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII^ | 14 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Age of Wonders: Planetfall | 15 | Paradox Interactive |
| Super Mario Party* | 16 | Nintendo |
| Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order* | 17 | Nintendo |
| New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe* | 18 | Nintendo |
| The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan | 19 | Bandai Namco Games (Corp) |
| Assassin's Creed: Odyssey | 20 | Ubisoft |
Hardware
Hardware spending in August 2019 fell 22 percent when compared to a year ago, to $167 million. Year-to-date hardware spending has declined 21 percent versus year ago, to $1.6 billion. Nintendo Switch is the only platform with sales gains both in August as well as year to date.
Nintendo Switch was again the best-selling hardware platform of August and remains the best-selling platform of 2019.
Accessories & Game Cards
Total August 2019 spending on accessories and game cards declined 6 percent when compared to a year ago, to $242m. Year-to-date sales of accessories and game cards have fallen 2 percent when compared to a year ago, to $2.3 billion.
Steering wheel dollar sales jumped nearly 60 percent in August when compared to a year ago. The Logitech G920 Driving Force Racing Wheel for Xbox One and PC was August's best-selling racing wheel.