The NPD Group company spoke about the success of the US gaming market in 2017. According to researchers, sales on the gaming market increased by 11% and reached $14.59 billion.
The picture of the American video game market at the end of 2017 looks like this:
- Total sales: $14.59 billion (+11% from $13.18 billion in November 2016);
- Gaming consoles and PCs: $4.71 billion (+28% from $4.71 billion);
- Console games: $6.39 billion (+6% from $6 billion);
- PC Games: $275 million (-20% from $342 million);
- gaming accessories: $3.22 billion (+2% from $3.14 billion).
NPD named consistently high performance in the console segment and the appearance of new platforms from well-known brands on the market as drivers of annual growth.
The driver of game console sales was Nintendo Switch, which earned $4.7 billion for the year, excluding games for the platform. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also sold well, according to NPD.
Although digital sales of games continue to crowd retail, 314 new titles appeared on store shelves last year — 43 more than in 2016. “This is 16% more than the results of 2016, when a new 271 games appeared in retail. And 36% better than the 2015 figure of 230 titles,” said NPD Group analyst Matt Piscatella.
The genre of racing simulators has grown most noticeably over the past year. Racing sales increased by 68% compared to 2016. This was facilitated by the releases of such major racing franchises as Forza Motorsport 7, F1 2018 and Dirt 4.
At the same time, the shooter genre generated the largest number of revenues.
The NPD report is based on digital and physical sales data from the company’s partners.
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