US consumers are spending less on games after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to NPD Group. This opens up the advantage of cheaper and/or more economical consoles, especially the Xbox Series S.
Xbox Series X is Between us? (Credit: Xbox Wire)
Let’s take a look at the June numbers for the world’s second largest gaming market below. The calculated period was five weeks from May 29 to July 2, 2022.
| A collection of game sales in the United States | |||
| Period → | June (2021) | June (2022) | the difference |
| Software: Games, subscriptions, MTX and DLC (Includes consoles, PC, VR and mobile) |
$4.27 billion | $3.79 billion | – 11% |
| hardware | $401 million | $371 million | – 8% |
| accessories | 206 million USD | $176 million | – 15% |
| all: | $4.88 billion | $4.34 billion | – 11% |
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According to NPD Group analyst Matt Piscatella, subscription growth has yet to offset revenue declines in other market segments. PlayStation 5 revenue was still just shy of the month of June, with double-digit growth compared to the month of June 2021.
| Accumulated Collection (US Retail) | |||
| Period → | From January to June from 2021 |
From January to June from 2022 |
the difference |
| Software: Games, subscriptions, MTX and DLC (Includes consoles, PC, VR and mobile) |
25.72 billion USD | 23.09 billion USD | – 10% |
| hardware | $2.35 billion | $2.13 billion | – 9% |
| accessories | 1.22 billion USD | 1.05 billion USD | – 14% |
| all: | $29.29 billion | 26.27 billion USD | – 10% |
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In the accumulated we see a drop in supply of accessories caused by the shortage of chips. This may explain how the “old” Xbox Elite Series 2 controller led in revenue in the first half, even with the Black DualSense leading the way in June.
US NPD Accessories – PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was June’s best-selling accessory. The Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller led all accessories in first half dollar sales.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) July 15, 2022
Here are the top-selling games for the days between May 29 and July 2, 2022, according to NPD Group:
US sales rankings for June 2022
NPD Group’s data includes not only standalone software sold on physical media, but Also games sold on PSN, Steam and Xbox Live.
- Ring of Elden;
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga;
- Mario Strikers: Battle League *;
- MLB Show 22 #;
- overwatch;
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe *;
- Nintendo Switch Sports *;
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land *;
- Final Fantasy VII Remake;
- Minecraft.
* Physical media only.
# Excludes Xbox and Switch digital sales.
And we have it again Ring of Elden is the best selling game of the month. It is also the best seller of the year in the US: for five months it has been available on the market, Ring of Elden led for four months.
Mario Strikers: Battle League Already debuting as the 3rd bestseller of the month based on physical copies sold alone, in a market that doesn’t really like our football. closing out the top 5, overwatch It rose from 57th on the NPD in May to 5th in June, thanks to the launch of the beta. Overwatch 2 at the end of the month.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Returned to the top 10 thanks to promotional events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original game. Interestingly, in May, the FF7R ranked 159th in North American sales. The last time such a game appeared in NPD’s top ten was in May 2020.
Xbox Series X|S outsells PS5 in Japan by two weeks (Credit: GameNews24)
As for consoles, PlayStation 5 achieved the highest revenue of all major platforms, both in June 2022 and in the first half. On the other hand, Nintendo Switch led the sales in the month of June and accumulated the first half of 2022.
The Switch’s installed base surpassed PS4’s in the US in April. However, the hybrid console is the fourth best-selling console in this market, behind only the PS2, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.
In terms of sales, even with higher revenue in the semester, the PS5 ranks third in the United States. Sony’s console took the No. 2 spot in June, behind the leader Switch, but for six months, the Xbox Series X|S platform was ranked No. 2 in the US.
This means that in North American sales, the Xbox Series S edged out the Xbox Series platform over the PS5, as Microsoft’s console makes less revenue because the Series S is cheaper, but in return, the platform sells more units overall.
Unfortunately, it’s not known for sure what the Xbox series’ numerical advantage over the PS5 would be in the US, as no reliable numbers have been leaked since March.
| Hardware sales in the United States (2022) | ||||
| Platform | March | April | May | June |
| Nintendo Switch | (well) more than 433,000 units |
1 place Data not available |
1 place Data not available |
1 place Data not available |
| PlayStation 5 | 3rd place Data not available |
Data not available | Data not available | vice leader Data not available |
| Xbox Series X|S | more than 433,000 units |
vice leader Data not available |
vice leader Data not available |
Data not available |
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Sources: Games Industry, IGN US, Install Base, NeoGAF, NPD Group, ResetEra, and Venture Beat.
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