December 2021 NPD: Halo Infinite has strong debut on the sales charts
Join gaming leaders, alongside GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming, for their 2nd Annual GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit | GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2 this upcoming January 25-27, 2022. Learn more about the event.
Console hardware was once again difficult to come by in December, and that held back sales for an industry that continues to carry most of its momentum from the pandemic. Sales were flat or down across all categories in the United States, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. But a decline isn’t surprising when so many people are still unable to find Switch systems in stores let alone Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
“December 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 1% when compared to a year ago, to $7.5 billion,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “December growth in subscription and recurrent spending across PC, console, and mobile platforms offset declines in premium game sales to keep content spending flat compared to a year ago, at $5.7 billion.”
That dip in full-game sales is likely due to a tough comparison to the launch month of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. Halo Infinite couldn’t offset that itself with its free-t0-play multiplayer.
But December’s downward trend couldn’t put a damper on 2021’s overall growth.
The 2nd Annual GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming Summit and GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2
January 25 – 27, 2022
“Consumer spending [in 2021] reached a record $60.4 billion, 8% higher when compared to 2020,” said Piscatella. “Despite the December declines, full-year 2021 hardware spending reached $6.1 billion, gaining 14% when compared to 2020.”
Let’s get to the software charts.
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from
Read more on venturebeat.com
