M+E Connections

The Nintendo Switch hybrid home video game console and portable system had another strong showing in July in the U.S., outselling all rival video game systems, according to NPD’s sales data released Aug. 17.

In addition to Switch’s solid showing on the hardware front, the system also had a good month on the video game software chart, with Nintendo’s “Splatoon 2” coming in as July’s best-selling title across all platforms its first month available. The Switch exclusive game was released July 21.

Nintendo was also the best-selling software publisher in July, NPD video game industry analyst Mat Piscatella said in the research company’s email announcement, noting that three of the month’s top seven-selling games were published by the Japanese game company. Its “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” for Switch and Wii U was No. 5, while “Mario Kart 8” for Switch and Wii U was No. 7.

Hardware spending in July 2017 grew 29% from July 2016, to $182 million, according to NPD.  Sales of the Nintendo Switch and growth of Sony’s PlayStation 4 accounted for most of the increase, it said.
 
The month’s strong Switch sales were “driven by new inventory released in support of” the “Splatoon 2” release, Piscatella said.


Total U.S. video game hardware sales grew 29% from July 2016 to $182 million, according to NPD’s data. Through July, 2017 video game hardware spending has grown 20% from 2016 to $1.6 billion, with the performance of Switch continuing to be the “primary cause of the year-on-year gains,” Piscatella said.

But Sony’s PlayStation 4 (PS4) remained the best-selling video game hardware platform in the U.S. through July, he pointed out. After all, Switch wasn’t released until March 3 and, despite the strong demand for Nintendo’s system, supplies have largely been failing to satisfy consumer demand since the launch.

Total U.S. video game sector spending in July, which includes hardware, software and accessories, grew 19% from a year ago to $588 million, according to NPD. 

The release of “Splatoon 2” and month two sales of Activision Blizzard’s PS4 compilation “Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy,” the No. 2 video game for July (up from No. 4 in June), “drove” the software growth, Piscatella said.
 
Dollar sales of video game software and PC games software combined to reach $277 million in July, a 17% year-over-year increase, according to NPD. But, through July, dollar sales grew less than 1% compared to a year ago, at $2.7 billion.
 
Total spending on video game accessories and gamecards increased 9% from a year ago, to $129 million, according to NPD. Accessories for Switch and Microsoft’s Xbox One “drove spending growth” in the month, with gamepads finishing as the top-selling accessory type for both platforms, Piscatella said.
 
Declines in the interactive gaming toys category slowed in July and sales of those products were down only 15% in dollars for July compared to a year ago, he noted.  Through July, dollar spending on the category was down 39% from a year ago, while in the 12-month period that ended in July, dollar sales of such accessories fell by a whopping 48%.