Video game sales growth continued its record-breaking pace in October, led by strong hardware sales and new game releases. The industry’s impressive year-over-year growth continues to surprise investors, as many analysts expected tough comparisons against record sales in 2020 to dampen the data.
With the holiday season in full swing, demand for video games is set to remain robust through the end of the year. Supply disruptions and semiconductor shortages have incessantly hampered production for major consoles over the last year, including the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, keeping inventory tight. With consumer demand and retail sales data improving, video game manufacturers could defy post-pandemic expectations and break records, in terms of dollar sales, for many months more.
Related ETF and Stocks: Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (GAMR), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Sony Group Corporation (SONY), Nintendo Co., Ltd. (NTDOY)
Video Game Sales Grow at Breakneck Pace
US video game sales continue to defy expectations of a post-pandemic slump as the industry experienced another month of impressive growth.
The NPD Group, a market research company that tracks and analyzes the video game industry, recently released their October 2021 report, featuring another month of record-breaking sales data. The report, highlighted by VentureBeat, notes that consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories grew 16% year-over-year, reaching an October record of $4.4 billion.
Hardware showed the strongest growth at $472 million, an 82% rise compared to last year’s October figure, followed by an 11% rise in software sales and a 5% increase in accessories. A double-digit gain in video game software sales is impressive enough on its own when compared to 2020’s surge in spending amid COVID-19 lockdowns.
October’s gains are mostly due to some popular new game releases, as well as robust consumer demand for the latest gaming consoles including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch.
On a year-to-date basis, consumer spending on video games reached $46.7 billion, 12% greater than the same period in 2020.
Roblox, one of the world’s most popular online gaming platforms for children, recently announced its number of daily active users grew 31% to 47.3 million in the third quarter, per Reuters. Quarterly bookings jumped 28% to $637.8 million, exceeding market expectations.
Similarly, Microsoft reported another quarterly rise in gaming revenue, driven by ongoing demand for its Xbox Series X console. Total gaming revenue was up 16% compared to the same quarter a year prior, which the company partly attributes to record setting monetization and engagement on its platforms, according to Video Games Chronicle.
Reuters notes that even though the gaming boom began during last year’s months-long isolation, the sector’s breakout…
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