Hogwarts Legacy beats Call of Duty | Circana February 2023
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Hogwarts Legacy dominated sales in February, according to industry tracking group Circana (formerly known as the NPD Group and IRI). According to the new sales report, the Wizarding World title became the first to unseat Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from the top spot since the latter launched last October. In fact, multiple new titles climbed the list, indicated that gamers are hungry for new games to play amidst the old familiars.
“The February results (and really those going back to October of last year) show a stabilization of trends, both in purchasing and engagement,” said Circana analyst Mat Piscatella. “We’re well into the ‘new normal’ and are no longer subject (for now) to the wild swings we’d seen in the market starting in March 2020.”
Software is not the only site of major chart changes. According to Circana’s chart for February (see above), gamers have spent $495 million on hardware, 68% more than they did this time last year. Piscatella said, with regards to hardware, “This is the highest video game hardware spend for a February month since the $534 million total reached in 2009 … Improved PS5 supply has certainly helped, as have strong sales performances across both new releases and catalog titles.”
One of the first things to note is how many newly launched games have made it onto the charts, with seven recently released titles appearing on the list. In addition to the new games, some of the late 2022 titles have maintained their spots, including Sonic Frontiers, God of War Ragnarök and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
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