Videogame sales fell year-over-year for the fifth straight month in December, wrapping up the last full year before a 2020 console refresh promises a boost.
Sales fell 15% overall in December, to $2.98B, and had declined 19% in November, according to NPD Group.
December declines were across the board: Hardware sales fell 17%, to $973M. Software sales dropped 13%, to $1.14B. And sales of accessories and game cards fell 14%, to $869M.
For the full year, overall spending fell 13% from 2018, to $14.6B. Hardware was down 22% to $3.9B; software fell 9% to $6.6B; and accessories/game cards dropped 7%, to $4.1B.
For December, Nintendo Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY) was again the best-selling hardware platform (and it led the year as well).
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (NASDAQ:ATVI) topped the software dollar sales chart for the third straight month, and closed out as 2019’s top seller overall. That makes 11 straight years that the Call of Duty franchise was the year’s best seller, analyst Mat Piscatella notes.
Meanwhile, still at No. 2 from November is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (NASDAQ:EA), ahead of No. 3 Madden NFL 20 (EA) and No. 4 NBA 2K20 (NASDAQ:TTWO).
Rounding out the December software top 10 are largely Nintendo releases: No. 5, Luigi’s Mansion 3 (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 6, Pokemon Sword (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 7, Mario Kart 8 (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 8, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 9, Pokemon Shield (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 10, Minecraft.
Related tickers with after-hours moves: OTCPK:NTDOY, SNE flat, MSFT +0.3%, EA flat, ATVI flat, TTWO flat, T flat, OTCPK:UBSFY, OTC:NCBDY, OTCPK:SQNNY, OTCPK:CCOEY, OTCPK:SGAMY. Retail stock: GME flat.
