The NPD Group has released a new report on best-selling titles, consoles, and accessories in the US for October 2022. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the main driver of game content revenue growth, while hardware sales declined year-over-year.
Key takeaways
- According to NPD’s Mat Piscatella, US players spent a total of $4.3 billion on games, hardware, and accessories last month, the same amount as in October 2021.
- However, sales of consoles dropped 10% year-over-year to $424 million, and sales of game accessories fell 8% to $148 million.
- PlayStation 5 was the top console last month in terms of unit and dollar sales, with Xbox Series X|S ranking second.
- This decline in hardware was partly offset by 2% growth in revenue from video game-related content (sales of premium video games, DLCs, microtransactions, etc.), which hit $3.7 billion last month.
- Console and PC player spending saw a double-digit percentage increase, thanks to the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which generated $1 billion globally in just 10 days.
- It is worth noting that year-to-date spending across the video game industry has fallen 7% compared to this point in 2021. NPD cites declines in mobile and hardware revenues as the main reason.
Oct growth in digital sales and subscriptions for console and PC video game content, driven in large part by the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was offset by declines in mobile content and hardware. YTD spending has fallen 7% compared to this point in 2021, at $42.7B. pic.twitter.com/VCgWJtK2Fs
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) November 14, 2022
Best-selling video games
- Elden Ring remains the highest-grossing premium title of 2022 when looking at year-to-date numbers.
- Earlier this year, NPD said FromSoftware’s blockbuster was expected to end up as the best-selling game of the year, becoming only the third title since 2009 to dethrone Call of Duty.
- However, Modern Warfare 2 is taking the charts by storm right now. Despite being released on October 27, it has already become the second best-selling game of 2022 YTD.
- It is followed by LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Madden NFL 23, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus (excluding digital sales).
US NPD PREMIUM GAMES – October 2022 Top 20 Sellers pic.twitter.com/50X5a09uIa
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) November 14, 2022
- When looking at revenue by platform, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope was the top game on Nintendo Switch in terms of dollar sales last month. It is followed by Bayonetta 3 and Persona 5.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 became the highest-grossing title on PlayStation in October, followed by Gotham Knights and FIFA 23.
- Modern Warfare 2 was the best-selling game on Xbox as well, followed by Gotham Knights and Madden NFL 23.