Come along, because this news looks like a spreadsheet, but I promise to keep it light: according to the Games Market Dynamics report from NPD Group, United States consumers spent US$9.1 billion on video games in the third quarter of 2018, from July to September. That was 24% growth over the same period in 2017.
Look at how that money was split. Content, which combines physical and digital games, subscriptions and in-game purchases, totaled US$7 billion, up 25%. Hardware grew 11%, to US$737 million, driven by Xbox One, PS4 and the miniature retro consoles, such as the NES Classic and SNES Classic. Accessories rose 44%, with sales records in headsets and in game gift cards, which grew 63%.
And who gets the credit? The titles with the biggest sales impact were Candy Crush Saga, Fortnite, Madden NFL 19, Marvel’s Spider-Man and NBA 2K19. How sweet to see the friendly neighborhood hero in the middle of this ranking, sharing space with a little mobile candy game.
NPD analyst Mat Piscatella summed it up like this: “The US video game market continues to thrive with compelling game content expanding the market, leading to higher spending on hardware, accessories and software.” He added that, with the strength of recent releases like Marvel’s Spider-Man and NBA 2K19, plus cross-platform games like Fortnite, there appeared to be no slowdown in the final stretch of holiday shopping.
What came next
Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man got Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in 2023. The NPD Group, for its part, merged with IRI and was renamed Circana in 2023.
Source: GamingBolt.
Lady Combo
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