Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was best-selling game in US in October, while Starfield fell 13 places compared to last month

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

• As Circana’s Mat Piscatella reported on X (former Twitter), US players spent a total of $4.27 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories last month, down 5% year-over-year. But year-to-date consumer spending grew 2% to $43.4 billion.
• “Declines were experienced across all categories of spend. The dip was partially driven by Call of Duty shifting release months,” Piscatella explained.
• Sales of games, including DLC, in-app purchases, and subscriptions, amounted to $3.6 billion, down 4% year-over-year. The only two areas that experienced growth were physical copies of console games and mobile.
• Hardware spending fell 23% year-over-year to $327 million. According to Piscatella, “all current generation consoles experienced a double-digit percentage decline in dollar sales when compared to a year ago.”
• PlayStation 5 remained the best-selling console in both unit and dollar sales, followed by Xbox Series X|S.

Oct 2023 US Video Game Market Highlights from Circana – U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories fell 5% vs YA, to $4.0B. Declines were experienced across all categories of spend. The dip was partially driven by Call of Duty shifting release months. pic.twitter.com/0CNEqxH0Mr

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) November 15, 2023

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was the best-selling premium game of October 2023 among US consumers, outshining other new titles like Super Mario Bros. Wonder (#2), Asssassin’s Creed Mirage (#3), Sonic Superstars (#9), Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 (#12), and Forza Motorsport (#17).
• Starfield, which topped the charts in September, dropped 13 places to #14, showing a huge decline in sales compared to its first month.
• The strong launch of Insomniac’s latest project has already made it the fourth best-selling video game of 2023. According to Circana, first-month dollar sales of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 exceeded those of the first title by a double-digit percentage.
• Hogwarts Legacy remains the best-selling game in the US year-to-date, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Madden NFL 24. The top 10 also includes hits like Diablo IV (#4), Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (#7), Mortal Kombat 1 (#8), Starfield (#9), and Resident Evil 4.

YTD ending October 2023 Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games – U.S. (Dollar Sales, Excludes add-on content) pic.twitter.com/gp1BpSccpa

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) November 15, 2023

• Circana is now also tracking top games on different platforms by MAU. On PlayStation, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II ranked 1st, followed by Fortnite, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Roblox (released on PS last month), and GTA V.
• Modern Warfare II and Fortnite were also the top two games by MAU on Xbox, followed by GTA V, Starfield, and Gotham Knights. Microsoft’s new first-party title, Forza Motorsport, ranked 7th.
• Counter-Strike 2 was the most played game on Steam, followed by Baldur’s Gate III and Cyberpunk 2077. The Finals, an upcoming multiplayer shooter from Embark Studios, ranked 4th thanks to the success of its open beta.
• This data once again shows the enormous power of evergreen hits and live service games like Fortnite and CoD, which dominate the platforms and outperform first-party games from both Sony and Microsoft.

October 2023 Top 20 Titles Played on Steam Ranked by U.S. Monthly Active Users (Source: Circana Player Engagement Tracker) pic.twitter.com/u59ehSRDmi

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) November 15, 2023

• According to Sensor Tower, the US mobile market revenue increased by 2.1% year-over-year. Monopoly GO! remained the highest-grossing title in the country, followed by Royal Match, Candy Crush Saga, and Pokémon GO.
• “There were a few shuffles in the bottom four of the list, but the highlight this month is Clash of Clans, which jumped up 8 places to take the #10 spot,” analysts noted.