Circana analyst Matt Piscatella projects that total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories in the U.S. will be down 3% year-over-year to $4.1 billion in April 2024. A 2% increase in content spending was unable to offset a 43% decline in hardware and a 4% decline in accessories. Content spending growth was led by mobile, with gains in this segment offsetting a 24% year-over-year decline in content spending on console platforms. Video game hardware spending in April was down 43% year-over-year to $208 million. All current console hardware platforms are down at least 26% year-over-year, with the Switch (NTDOY) showed the largest decline, down 69% year-on-year.Sony) once again led the hardware market this month in both sales volume and revenue. The Nintendo Switch once again came in second in sales volume, while the Xbox Series (MSFT) ranked second in sales. PS5 exclusive “Stellar Blade” debuted as the top 10 best-selling premium games in April and the 16th best-selling game in 2024. “Stellar Blade” is the only new game released in April to rank in the top 20 best-selling premium video games for that month. Sony's “Helldivers II” took second place in April, repeating its March ranking as the top-selling premium game in 2024. “Helldivers II” maintained its second place position despite a more than 70% decrease in April sales compared to March. Microsoft's “Sea of Thieves,” which first launched on Xbox and PC in 2018, was the fourth best-selling game in April after launching on the PlayStation platform that same month. The top-selling premium games in the U.S. this month were Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Bethesda's Fallout 4, Sony's MLB The Show 24, and Capcom'sKoi) “Dragon's Dogma II”, Warner Bros. Discovery's (world map) “Hogwarts Legacy” and Electronic Arts (EA) “EA Sports FC 24”.
