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 Dollar Sales, Millions
Jan 2022
Jan 2023
Change
Total Video Game Sales
$4,589
$4,347
-5%
Total Video Game Sales $7,428 $7,583 2% Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms)
$4,006
$3,788
-5%
Video Game Hardware
$392
$393
0%
Video Game Accessories
$191
$165
-14%
*Mobile spending provided by Sensor Tower
“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.”
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Rachel Kaser is a gaming and technology writer for from Dallas, Texas. She's been in the games industry since 2013, writing for various publications, and currently covers news for GamesBeat. Her favorite game is Bayonetta.
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