US Gaming Market Sees Decline in October Despite Strong New Releases

The US gaming market experienced a decline in October, breaking a five-month streak of year-over-year growth, according to a recent report from Circana. Consumers spent $4.04 billion on gaming in October, representing a 5% decrease from the same period last year. This decline was largely attributed to the shift in release dates for the Call of Duty series, with last year's October numbers boosted by the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 being released in November. Despite this, October saw a strong lineup of new releases, with six games debuting in the top ten software charts. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 took the top spot, followed by Super Mario Bros. Wonder in second place, although a direct comparison between the two is not possible due to Circana not reporting digital sales of Nintendo first-party titles. Other notable new releases included Assassin's Creed: Mirage, UFC 5, NHL 24, and Sonic Superstars, which took the third, seventh, eighth, and ninth spots, respectively. According to Circana, Spider-Man 2 is already the fourth best-selling game of the year, behind Hogwarts Legacy, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Madden NFL 24. The PlayStation version of Roblox, a free-to-play platform, ranked fourth among all PS5 titles for monthly active users, behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fortnite, and Spider-Man 2. On the mobile front, consumer spending increased by 2.1% year-over-year, with Monopoly Go remaining the highest-grossing title. Established games such as Clash of Clans and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes saw significant month-over-month revenue growth in October, with Clash of Clans jumping eight spots on the highest-grossing chart and Galaxy of Heroes boosting its revenue by 66% month-over-month. Overall, consumer spending on game content, including full games, microtransactions, DLC, and subscriptions, decreased by 4% to $3.56 billion. Console hardware sales took a significant hit, declining by 23% year-over-year to $327 million, with all current-generation hardware experiencing double-digit declines in dollar sales. The PS5 was the best-selling system in terms of both units and dollar amount, while the Switch took second place in units sold and the Xbox Series X|S was the runner-up in terms of dollars spent. Accessory spending decreased by 2% to $147 million, with the "Midnight Black" PS5 Dual Sense controller generating the most revenue from consumers.