The U.S. gaming industry finished strong in 2022 despite it being an otherwise slow year, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. While the year overall was down slightly — in line with the common view that 2022 is a “bust” corrective year following the pandemic boom — spending on hardware and subscriptions boosted sales to a slight year-over-year increase for December.
December 2022 Dollar Sales, Millions
Dec 2021
Dec 2022
Change
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)
$5,597
$5,547
-1%
Video Game Hardware
$1,319
$1,533
16%
Video Game Accessories
$512
$503
-2%
*Mobile spending provided by Sensor Tower
“U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories totaled $7.6 billion in December 2022, an increase of 2% when compared to a year ago,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “Video game hardware spending grew 16%, offsetting declines in both content (-1%) and accessories (-2%).”
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