Videogame sales growth came off its stellar April-May rates, but overall sales still marked the highest tracked June since 2009, as the industry continues to sail on tailwinds from our stay-at-home year.
Overall sales rose 26% to $1.2B, according to NPD Group. And that brought year-to-date sales to $6.6B, up 19% Y/Y (the highest year-to-date total since 2010’s $7B).
May sales had risen 52% from last year, and April sales jumped 73%.
The numbers came with their first year-over-year drop in hardware sales in three months, resuming an ongoing slowdown ahead of this year’s console refresh. Hardware sales fell 17% to $191M, while year-to-date hardware sales are still up 25% to $1.6B. Nintendo Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY) again led platforms in unit and dollar sales.
The slack was taken up in part by accessories/game cards, which improved 29% to $417M – Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller (NASDAQ:MSFT) was again the best-selling accessory, and leads YTD accessory sales (which are up 15% to $2B overall).
And software sales jumped 49% to $570M, led by the debut atop the charts of The Last of Us: Part II (NYSE:SNE), which instantly becomes the year’s third-best seller. In dollar sales, it beat out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (NASDAQ:ATVI) and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (OTCPK:NTDOY) for the top spot. The game was the second-best launch month ever for a Sony-published game, second only to Marvel’s Spider-Man, analyst Mat Piscatella notes.
Some library titles made hay; rounding out the rest of the top 10 in dollar sales: No. 4, Grand Theft Auto V (NASDAQ:TTWO); No. 5, Mortal Kombat 11 (NYSE:T); No. 6, Red Dead Redemption II (TTWO); a big jump to No. 7 with new stock for Ring Fit Adventure (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 8, NBA 2K20 (TTWO); No. 9, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (OTCPK:NTDOY); and No. 10, Minecraft Dungeons (MSFT).
Software sales year-to-date are up 19% to $3B.
Related tickers: (OTCPK:NTDOY -0.4%), (SNE -0.6%), (MSFT -0.7%), (HEAR -1.0%), (EA +0.2%), (ATVI -0.8%), (TTWO +0.2%), (T -0.5%), (OTCPK:UBSFY -2.2%), (OTCPK:NCBDY), (OTCPK:SQNNY), (OTCPK:CCOEY +0.7%), (OTCPK:SGAMY +1.0%). Retail stock: (GME -4.9%).
