Dead Space dominated post-holiday sales | January 2023 NPD
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The games industry experienced a post-holidays slump in the first month of 2023, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. Every sector of gaming sales the firm recorded in January either dipped or remained level, though this isn’t surprising given the general downward trajectory of gaming sales over the last year and the post-holiday period. However, several newly-released January games did well enough to hit the best sellers chart.
“January 2023 marks the first time the U.S. video game market experienced a year-on-year decline since September 2022, when consumer spending reached 4% below September 2021 levels,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “Drops in mobile content, physical console content and gamepad spending drove the January shortfall.”
Last year, hardware sales boomed year-over-year by 22%, and this year the industry appears to be holding to the same level. Piscatella said of hardware: “Growth in PlayStation 5 and Switch hardware spending was offset by declines across other platforms.” Accessories sales, on the other hand, fell dramatically compared with the previous year, with gamepads being one of the biggest areas hit.
Several of the new releases for January managed to make the charts, though crowd-pleaser Hi-Fi Rush just missed out — likely due to releasing near the very end of the month and its availability on Game Pass. The chart largely features the usuals: Call of Duty, sports titles and Pokémon. Other popular releases, including Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök, also remain in the top 10.
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