August 2022 NPD: Madden NFL 23 tops charts as hardware sales rise
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Consumer spending on video games reached $4.1 billion in August. According to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group, spending is comparable to 2020 levels, and hardware sales are also on the rise. As for games, Madden 23 and Saints Row have both topped the charts in their debut month, while Marvel’s Spider-Man has gotten a boost thanks to its PC launch.
“August 2022 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories declined 5% when compared to a year ago, to $4.10 billion,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “This total is slightly higher than the $4.07 billion total reached during the August 2020 tracking period.”
While 2022 continues to be a less spendy year than 2021, figures are comparable to spending in 2020. In fact, it’s slightly higher. It’s not good, by any metric: Most sales are down, including mobile sales. Hardware sales, on the other hand, have gone up by 14%. This is likely because of improved console availability.
Piscatella added: “Year-to-date spending through August 2022 totaled $34.6 billion, a 9% drop when compared to the same period in 2021, but 3% higher than the $33.5 billion achieved during the 2020 comparable period.”
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NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. Not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net
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