NPD: June Video Game Sales Jumped 26%
July 17, 2020
The video game industry’s torrid sales streaks in April and May slowed a bit in June, reaching $1.2 billion, which was still up 26% from $952 million in sales in June 2019, according to new data from The NPD Group. Through the mid-year point, game sales top $6.6 billion — the highest tally since the same time period in 2010 — and up 19% from $5.54 billion in 2019.
After a three month surge, console sales dropped 17% to $191 million from $230 million last year as gamers await next edition units from Sony and Microsoft this winter. Through the half-year, hardware revenue is up 25% to $1.6 billion from $1.28 billion last year. Nintendo Switch again led all platforms in unit and dollar sales.
Sales of game accessories and game cards jumped 29% to $417 million from $323 million last year. The top-selling accessory was the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. Year-to-date accessory sales are up 15% to $2 billion from $1.74 billion.
Finally, software sales skyrocketed 49% to $570 million from $382.5 million — driven in part by the launch of Sony’s The Last of Us: Part II. NPD game analyst Mat Piscatella, in a post on Twitter, said Sony’s release topped Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.