Mat Piscatella, the Executive Director and Video Game Industry Advisor for the NPD Group, has revealed some stats next-gen console sales for December, and it ain't pretty. Let's start with the good news at least: December 2020 consumer spending for "video game hardware, content and accessories reached a December record $7.7B, 25% higher when compared to a year ago." Overall, the year set a new record with $56.9 billion dollarydoos, which is 27% higher than in 2019.
That sounds all well and good, but hardware sales for December 2020 were $1.35 billion, which is 35% last year and the highest in seven years. What happened seven years ago? The last console generation, of course. It's even worse when you realize that Nintendo Switch sales are what propped up sales for this December:
US NPD HW - Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars for both December and the 2020 year. Annual dollar sales of Switch hardware were the 2nd highest for a platform in U.S. history. Only the 2008 dollar sales of Nintendo Wii were higher.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 15, 2021
Last generation, it was the PlayStation 4 that set the world on fire while the Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U struggled, particularly the Wii U. Still, the PlayStation 5 did really well in the two months that it was available, finishing 2020 as the "#2 best-selling console in dollar sales, while PlayStation 4 ranked 2nd in units sold." The PlayStation 5 set a record for PlayStation hardware through PlayStation 1-5's first December, which is something at least.
There's also some news about software sales, and it wasn't very surprising:
US NPD SW - Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War was the best-selling game of both December as well as 2020, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was 2020's 2nd best-seller. Call of Duty ranked as the best-selling gaming franchise in the U.S. market for a record 12th consecutive year. pic.twitter.com/XM820w7GYc
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 15, 2021
There's also December's top sellers and 2020's top sellers overall. Digital sales are not included so we don't get the full picture, but we do get a picture nonetheless. Cyberpunk 2077 did well, placing second for December, and made it to #19 for 2020's top sellers. Last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare placed second in 2020, and Mario Kart 8: Deluxe placed 8th. There's a lot of cool info here, so be sure to check it out if you're curious.
What do you think of this year's console sales? Are you surprised it's this high or that more money wasn't made? Let us know in the comments!
