January 2019 NPD: Sales down as Kingdom Hearts tops game charts

Gaming fans in the United States spent $893 million at U.S. retailers and on full-game digital downloads in January, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s down 19 percent from the same period in 2018. Those sales declines are largely due to a tough comparison because 2018 was such a huge year for both hardware and software sales. January 2018 also saw the release of Monster Hunter: World, one of the industry’s big successes last year.

“All segments of spending reflected double-digit percentage declines when compared to January 2018,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Despite declines when compared to a year ago, January 2019 spending was the second highest market total achieved in a January month since the $917 million reached in January 2013.”