SONY - Hardware gains drive November videogame sales to first growth in a year
Videogame sales marked their first industrywide year-over-year gain in more than a year in November, logging a 3% increase as holiday shopping started to bring sharp rebounds in consoles and accessories.
Overall sales in November rose from the previous November to $6.286B, according to NPD Group. Sales in October had been flat year-over-year , and prior to that had seen 11 straight months of declines from the previous period.
And while videogame content sales reversed back to a decline, falling 5% from the previous November (to $4.742B), hardware sales jumped 45% to $1.254B, led by Sony's ( NYSE: SONY ) PlayStation 5, the month's best-seller in unit and dollar terms, ahead of Nintendo's Switch ( OTCPK:NTDOY ).
Accessory sales also rose, by 10% to $289M, pushed by double-digit percentage gains both in gamepads and in headset/headphones, analyst Mat Piscatella notes. The best-selling accessory of November was the PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller Galactic Purple.
Game content was lifted by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II ( NASDAQ: ATVI ) repeating atop the dollar sales chart, and unsurprisingly becoming 2022's best seller along the way, passing Elden Ring ( OTCPK:NCBDY ). December's sales should help cement the latest CoD into its usual spot as the annual top seller. (For the latest on Microsoft's $69B deal to buy Activision Blizzard - much of which hinges on its planned treatment of CoD - check here .)
The shooter was followed in November by three new releases - God of War: Ragnarok ( SONY ) at No. 2; Pokemon: Scarlet/Violet ( OTCPK:NTDOY ) at No. 3; and Sonic Frontiers ( OTCPK:SGAMY ) at No. 4.
Rounding out the content top 10 for November: No. 5, Madden NFL 23 ( EA ); No. 6, FIFA 23 ( EA ); No. 7, NBA 2K23 ( TTWO ); No. 8, Gotham Knights ( WBD ); No. 9, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales ( SONY ); and No. 10, Mario Party Superstars ( OTCPK:NTDOY ).
Spending on mobile games continued to struggle, Sensor Tower notes, though casino games saw a continued surge even as role-playing games and shooters kept faltering. Mobile spending for Thanksgiving/Black Friday was down 5% from the previous year, and down 1% from 2020.
The top 10 mobile games in spending for November: Candy Crush Saga ( ATVI ), Roblox ( RBLX ), Royal Match, Coin Master, Clash of Clans, Evony, Pokémon Go ( OTCPK:NTDOY ), Township, Jackpot Party - Casino Slots, and Bingo Blitz ( PLTK ).
Related tickers: OTCPK:NTDOY , SONY , NASDAQ: MSFT , HEAR , LOGI , CRSR , EA , ATVI , TTWO , WBD , OTCPK:UBSFY , OTCPK:NCBDY , OTCPK:SQNNY , OTCPK:CCOEY , OTCPK:SGAMY , OTCPK:KNMCY , SKLZ , SE , NTES , OTCPK:TCEHY , RBLX . Retail stock: GME .
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Hardware gains drive November videogame sales to first growth in a year