US market up 24 per cent in record-breaking Q3

US industry analysts NPD have reported that the US has once again smashed records for game sales. With Q3 2020 being the biggest summer on record.

Total consumer spending hit $11.2bn (£8.52bn) between July and September. That’s a rise of 24 per cent year-on-year, up from $10.04bn in 2019. Gains were seen across the board, with spending up on physical software, digital console and PC sales, as well as mobile, subscription, hardware and accessories. Everyone’s a winner.

The top performing games were Among Us, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Fortnite, Ghost of Tsushima, Madden NFL 21, Marvel’s Avengers, Minecraft, NBA 2K21, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

“We continue to see more video game players, playing for more hours, across more devices,” said Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group. “We can anticipate another record-breaking quarter in Q4, in large part due to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles entering the market with one of the fastest-selling consoles in U.S. history, the Nintendo Switch.”