Video game spending in the U.S. was up across all categories last month, according to the industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. It totaled $1.21 billion, which is up 39 percent year over year.
Here are the numbers for September 2017:
- Total: $1.21 billion (up 39 percent from $872 million in September 2016)
- Hardware: $316 million (up 34 percent from $235 million)
- Console software: $726 million (up 52 percent from $477 million)
- PC software: $18 million (down 20 percent from $22 million)
- Accessories: $150 million (up 9 percent from $138 million)
A big winner was the sci-fi first-person shooter Destiny 2, which is developed by Bungie and published by Activision. It debuted on September 6 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and is slated for a PC release on October 24.
“Destiny 2 was the top-selling game in September, driving more launch month consumer spend than any other 2017 release to date,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “With one month of sales, Destiny 2 also becomes the best-selling game of 2017 year to date, and the third best-selling game of the 12-month rolling period ending September 2017, trailing only Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1.”
The NPD report doesn’t cover total market spend, as it is missing certain data (such as digital sales from Blizzard’s store on its Battle.net service). It is more of a snapshot of the market as a whole, using data from participating publishers and platforms. Psyonix, which develops the competitive cars-meet-soccer game Rocket League, is now reporting its sales data as part of the NPD report. Certain marked games only include physical sales.
Software
Overall
- Destiny 2*
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- FIFA 18
- Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle**
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NHL 18
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Mario Kart 8**
- Metroid: Samus Returns**
- Pokken Tournament DX**
- Overwatch*
- Ark: Survival Evolved**
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- NBA Live 18
- Splatoon 2**
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Minecraft
* No Battle.net sales
** No digital sales
Destiny 2 is now the best-selling game in 2017 and third in the charts for the best-selling titles in the last 12 months. As a result of its success, Activision Blizzard was the top publisher in September, and it’s also now the top-selling publisher in the past 12 months.
Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K18, which launched on September 19, also topped the charts for 2017. After its first month of sales, NBA 2K18 is the best-selling sports game year-to-date.
“NBA 2K18 had the largest consumer spend in launch month of any sports genre title since the current generation of consoles launched in November 2013,” said Piscatella.
Another first is Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, which launched on August 29 and became the best-selling third-party title on the Nintendo Switch.
Xbox One
- Destiny 2
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- FIFA 18
- NHL 18
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Overwatch
- Ark: Survival Evolved**
PlayStation 4
- Destiny 2
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- FIFA 18
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NHL 18
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Nintendo Switch
- Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle**
- Mario Kart 8**
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
- Pokken Tournament DX**
- Splatoon 2**
- ARMS**
- Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2**
- FIFA 18**
- Lego Worlds**
- Rayman Legends**
Nintendo 3DS
- Metroid: Samus Returns**
- Monster Hunter Stories**
- Pokemon: Sun**
- Miitopia**
- Mario Kart 7**
- Super Mario Maker**
- Super Smash Bros.**
- Pokemon: Moon**
- Hey! Pikmin**
- New Super Mario Bros. 2**
The best-selling games of 2017 so far
- Destiny 2*
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
- Grand Theft Auto V
- For Honor
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Injustice 2
- Mass Effect: Andromeda
The best-selling games over the last 12 months
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Battlefield 1
- Destiny 2*
- Grand Theft Auto V
- NBA 2K17
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
- NBA 2K18
- Madden NFL 18
- Madden NFL 17
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**
Hardware & accessories
Hardware spending was up last month, generating $316 million in revenue though consumers weren’t buying as many portable consoles. Sales were driven by the Nintendo Switch, SNES Classic, and PlayStation 4, which is still the best-selling console year-to-date. All together, hardware sales have grown year-to-date to $2.1 billion, which is up 20 percent as compared to 2016.
“Sony’s PlayStation 4 led all hardware platforms in consumer spend during September 2017, while Nintendo Switch sold the most units amongst the current generation consoles,” said Piscatella. “SNES Classic was the overall top unit selling hardware platform in the period.”
Just as PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch consoles drove growth for hardware, so did their controllers in the accessories category. The DualShock 4 Wireless Controller Black for the PlayStation 4 was the best-selling accessory last month, while the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is the top-selling accessory year-to-date.
Accessories and PC game cards, which NPD is now tracking starting with the September report, were up 9 percent last month year-to-date and generated $150 million.
