Consumer in the United States spent $1.05 billion on gaming-related products in February, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s up 4 percent compared to $1.01 billion in February 2018.
The uptick in sales is due primarily to big game launches like Anthem and Jump Force. But the industry also saw growth in accessories and game cards as people rush out to purchase new gamepads. That was enough to patch over the hardware space, which is beginning to retract after years of growth.
“Gains in software, accessories, and game card spending offset declines in hardware,” said Piscatella. “Year-to-date spending across tracked video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards has increased 3 percent when compared to 2018, to $2 billion.”
Here are the results for February 2019
| February 2019 Dollar Sales | Feb’18 | Feb’19 | Change | |
| Total Video Game Sales | $1.007 billion | $1.047 billion | 4% | |
| Video Games Hardware | $316m | $277m | -12% | |
| PC & Video Games Software (PC, Console and Portable; Physical and Full Game Digital Formats from the STEAM, PlayStation and Xbox platforms) | $397m | $457m | 15% | |
| Video Games Accessories & Game Cards | $294m | $313m | 6% |
Software
The best-selling games of January 2018 in the U.S.
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. But not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold.
- Anthem**
- Jump Force
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Far Cry New Dawn
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Metro: Exodus**
- NBA 2K19
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- Minecraft ***
- Super Mario Party*
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Madden NFL 19**
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
*Digital sales not included
**PC digital sales not included
**Xbox One and PlayStation 4 digital sales not included for Minecraft
Software sales were up in February compared to the same period in 2018.
“Dollar sales of tracked console, portable, and PC video game software totaled $457 million in February 2019, growing 15 percent when compared to a year ago,” said Piscatella.
That’s impressive in part because of the blockbuster launch of Monster Hunter: World last February. But Anthem and Jump Force both had strong debuts and other games continue to sell well.
“Year-to-date dollar sales of tracked console, portable, and PC video game software reached $896 million,” said Piscatella. “That’s 10 percent higher when compared to a year ago.”
Anthem
“Anthem was the best-selling game of February 2019, and it is now the second best-selling game of 2019,” said Piscatella. “Anthem represents the second-highest launch month sales ever recorded for a BioWare developed game, trailing only the March 2012 release of Mass Effect 3.”
And that doesn’t even include Anthem’s PC digital sales. More importantly, it doesn’t count the people who signed up for EA’s Access Origin Premier service for $15 per month. That figure is likely significant since that membership now gets players access to a library of older games as well as Battlefield V and Madden NFL 19.
Jump Force
“Jump Force debuted as February’s second best-selling game,” said Piscatella. “Launch month sales volume of Jump Force is the third-highest total ever achieved for a title published by Bandai Namco Games. Jump Force is currently the fourth best-selling game of 2019 year-to-date.”
Never overestimate the tastes of anime fans.
Kingdom Hearts 3
“Kingdom Hearts III ranked as the third best-selling game of February, and maintains its number one selling position year to date,” said Piscatella.”Over its first two months in market, Kingdom Hearts III remains the fastest selling game in franchise history, exceeding the time-aligned sales of Kingdom Hearts II by over 80 percent.”
Metro Exodus
“Metro Exodus was the eighth best-selling game of February,” said Piscatella. “Launch-month sales of Metro Exodus set a new franchise record, besting the month-one sales of Metro: Last Light by nearly 50 percent.”
Hardware and accessories
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of the month. It also generated the most hardware dollars for Nintendo since February 2011. You can read more about the hardware results right here.
For accessories and game cards, sales are climbing once again. This segment generated $313 million, which is up 6 percent year-over-year.
“Gamepad spending gains were the primary driver of the increase,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo gamepad sales increased nearly 80 percent in the month of February, and are now up approximately 90 percent year to date.”
“Year-to-date spending on accessories and game cards has increased 8 percent when compared to a year ago, to $580 million,” said Piscatella. “As with February, gamepads are the primary contributor to spending gains.
The rest of the software charts
The best-selling games of 2019 so far
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Anthem**
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Jump Force
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII^
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- NBA 2K19
- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
The best-selling games of the last 12 months
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII**
- NBA 2K19
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Madden NFL 19**
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Far Cry 5
- God of War 2018
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Mario Kart 8*
Xbox One’s best-selling games of January 2019
- Anthem
- Jump Force
- Far Cry New Dawn
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
- NBA 2K19
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Metro: Exodus
- Grand Theft Auto V
PlayStation 4’s best-selling games of January 2019
- Anthem
- Jump Force
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Resident Evil 2 2019
- Metro: Exodus
- Far Cry New Dawn
- NBA 2K19
- Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
Nintendo Switch’s best-selling games of January 2019
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Mario Kart 8
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Party
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu
- Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee
- Splatoon 2
- Minecraft
Nintendo 3DS’s best-selling games of January 2019
- Yo-Kai Watch 3
- Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr’s Journey
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
- Super Smash Bros.
- Super Mario Maker
- Mario Kart 7
- Super Mario 3D Land