Video game spending set a new record of $ 56.9 billion in 2020 in the United States, according to a new report by the NPD Group, an increase of 27% compared to 2019. Hardware spending reached its highest level since 2011, at $ 5.3 billion, an increase of 35% compared to 2019. The NPD classifies spending on video games as money spent on retail and digital stores on “video game hardware, content, and accessories.”
Although the PS5 and the new Xbox consoles were launched last year, it was Nintendo’s Switch that took the crown as the best-selling platform throughout the year. It was number one in terms of sales in dollars and units sold. The PS5 was the second best-selling console in terms of sales in dollars, while the PS4 ranked second in terms of units sold.
December 2020 US NPD THREAD – Consumer spending in December 2020 on video game hardware, content and accessories reached a record $ 7.7 billion in December, 25% higher when compared to the previous year. Year-round spending also set a new record, totaling $ 56.9 billion, 27% more than in 2019. pic.twitter.com/JFTL7eOEat
– Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 15, 2021
Nintendo was equally dominant in software, publishing 10 of the 20 best-selling games of the year. However, the two best-selling games were both Call of Duty, with Black Ops: Cold War first and 2019 Called modern armament war in second place. Mat Piscatella of the NPD notes that the Call of Duty franchise is now the best selling game franchise in the United States for 12 consecutive years.
It should come as no surprise that people spend a lot of money on a form of entertainment mainly at home in the same year of a global pandemic, especially when it coincided with the launch of new consoles. The increase in spending on video games was apparent already in July, when the NPD Group reported that spending on video games in the United States reached a 10-year high in June.