Switch drives US hardware spending, but gold PS4 still best-selling console in June – NPD

Total video game spending in the US in June 2017 rose seven per cent year-on-year to $765m, according to the latest data from NPD, with accessories being the only category to show a decline.

Hardware spending showed the highest amount of growth, rising 27 per cent compared to June 2016 to $231m. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Switch was the main catalyst behind this rise in hardware, but it was actually Sony’s PlayStation 4 that was the best-selling console last month. This was largely driven by the release of the 1TB PlayStation 4 Slim in Gold, and was the console’s best-performing June in terms of sales to date.

Despite the Switch’s popularity, however, portable hardware spending continues to decline, says NPD, and year-on-year spending on portable hardware has fallen by 40 per cent.

In the software category, boxed sales in June increased by one per cent year-on-year to $375m. Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 was the best-selling title of the month, and June marks the second consecutive month that a newly-released fighting title has topped the charts, following the success of Injustice 2 in May, which took the No.2 spot this month.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy also had a strong month, debuting at No.4 despite only being on the market for two days. Likewise, Nintendo’s ARMS reached No.5, although the latter’s position doesn’t take into account any digital sales.

Year-to-date, however, Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is still the best-selling title, despite falling out of the Top Ten this month.

As for accessories spending, this fell one per cent year-on-year to $159m. Gamepad sales rose by 22 per cent year-on-year, but this was offset by a 40 per cent fall year-on-year in the interactive gaming toys segment.

Here’s NPD’s Top 10 Games for June 2017, ranked on dollar sales:

1. Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco)
2. Injustice 2 (Warner Bros Interactive)
3. Grand Theft Auto V (Take 2 Interactive)
4. Crash Brandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Activision Blizzard)
5. ARMS (Nintendo)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo)
8. Overwatch (Activision Blizzard)
9. NBA 2K17 (Take 2 Interactive)
10. Horizon Zero Dawn (Sony)