By Sagar V. Mankar According to Circana market reports, shared by Mat Piscatella on Bluesky, the US gaming market experienced a significant resurgence in October 2024. The market’s total revenue rose by 10% compared to the same month in 2023, with growth driven by strong sales of gaming content and accessories. While some sectors thrived, gaming hardware sales saw a notable decline.
Key Revenue Drivers
Gaming content sales led the charge with a 12% year-over-year (YoY) growth, and accessory sales soared by 15%. Despite this, hardware sales dropped sharply, falling 23% from October 2023. However, the market’s overall performance remains promising due to robust content and subscription spending.
Console gaming stood out, with spending on console games seeing a remarkable 27% YoY increase. Accessories also performed well, with the PlayStation Portal emerging as the top-selling item in dollar terms during October.
In numbers:
- Total Video Game Sales: $4,662 million, up 10%
- Video Game Content: $4,227 million, up 12%
- Video Game Hardware: $249 million, down 23%
- Video Game Accessories: $187 million, up 15%
Mixed Performance in Hardware Sales
The hardware segment faced challenges as major consoles reported significant declines in sales. Nintendo Switch sales dropped 38% YoY, while PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series S|X saw declines of 20% and 18%, respectively. Despite the dip, the PS5 continues to lead the hardware market, ranking as the best-selling console in both unit and dollar sales.
Subscriptions on the Rise
Spending on gaming subscriptions grew by an impressive 16%, driven largely by the popularity of services like Game Pass. This surge is primarily attributed to the launch of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on day one on services.
Year-to-Date Market Insights
For the first ten months of 2024, the US gaming market showed modest growth, posting a 1% improvement compared to the same period in 2023. This indicates a stable upward trend despite the fluctuating hardware sales.
In numbers:
- Total Video Game Sales: $45,360 million, up 1%
- Video Game Content: $40,423 million, up 4%
- Video Game Hardware: $2,815 million, down 29%
- Video Game Accessories: $2,122 million, up 8%
Game Sales Highlights
October saw the release of major titles that boosted game sales significantly. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 dominated the charts, becoming the best-selling game of the month and the third best-selling title of 2024 within just two weeks of release. Its launch outperformed last year’s installment, with sales 23% higher than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III during its initial weeks. Notably, 82% of its console sales came from PlayStation users.
Other standout titles included Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, which ranked second in October sales and fourth in 2024 overall. It has become the best-selling Dragon Ball game in the US in terms of revenue, trailing only Bandai Namco’s blockbuster titles, Elden Ring and Dark Souls III.
Meanwhile, the remake of Silent Hill 2 secured third place in October, delivering the second-highest launch sales in the series’ history, just behind the original.
Top 20 Best-Selling Games (Physical and Full Game Digital) in Oct 2024:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Microsoft Corp)
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Silent Hill 2 (2024) (Konami Digital Ent.)
- Undisputed (Plaion)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (Sega)
- Dragon Age: The Veiguard (Electronic Arts)
- Super Mario Party Jamboree* (Nintendo)
- Madden NFL 25 (Electronic Arts)
- Sonic X Shadow Generations (Sega)
- EA Sports FC 25 (Electronic Arts)
- EA Sports College Football 25 (Electronic Arts)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom* (Nintendo)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Games)
- NHL 25 (Electronic Arts)
- Astro Bot (Sony (Corp))
- Minecraft** (Multiple Video Game Manufacturers)
- NBA 2K25* (Take-Two Interactive)
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Square Enix Inc (Corp))
- Final Fantasy I-VI Bundle (Square Enix Inc (Corp))
- Elden Ring (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Top 20 Best-Selling Games (Physical and Full Game Digital) in the Last 10 Months of 2024 (until November 2):
- EA Sports College Football 25 (Electronic Arts)
- Heldidvers II (Sony (Corp))
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Microsoft (Corp))
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) (Microsoft (Corp))
- Madden NFL 25 (Electronic Arts)
- EA Sports MVP Bundle (Electronic Arts)
- Elden Ring (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Dragon’s Dogma II (Capcom USA)
- EA Sports FC 25 (Electronic Arts)
- MLB: The Show 24* (Multiple Video Game Manufacturers)
- WWE 2K24** (Take-Two Interactive)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Games)
- Grand Theft Auto V** (Take-Two Interactive)
- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (Square Enix Inc (Corp))
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- NBA 2K24** (Take-Two Interactive)
- Minecraft** (Multiple Video Game Manufacturers)
- Madden NFL 24 (Electronic Arts)
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (Warner Bros. Games)
For more details, refer to the Circana market report shared by Mat Piscatella on Bluesky.