NPD: U.S. games spending hits new record in Q1

Millions of Americans turned to video games as a source of entertainment and social connection in March. And that led to a significant increase in spending, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. The total U.S. video games business generated record spending of $10.86 billion during the first quarter. That’s up 9% over the same three-month period in 2019. Stay-at-home orders were a major factor in these results.

Spending on content alone reached $9.58 billion during Q1. That’s up 11% year-over-year. NPD’s data shows that spending was up for digital content on PC and console as well as for mobile and subscriptions. Separately, hardware and accessories also grew relative to the 2019 period.