- Holiday holdover? Videogame sales jumped 59% in January to log their highest January total in seven years, with broad increases across categories and hardware flying off the shelves.
- The total figure rose to $1.096B from a year-ago $690M, according to NPD Group. Hardware sales increased 119% to $278M; software sales were up 51% to $517M; and even accessories jumped 37% to $301M.
- Hardware sales hit their highest level since January 2011, and the industry moved more than 1M units, with solid performance from PlayStation 4 (NYSE:SNE), Nintendo Switch (OTCPK:NTDOY) and Xbox One (NASDAQ:MSFT) (just a 3% gap from top to bottom there). In accessories, gamecards, gamepads and headsets/headphones all hit January records, analyst Mat Piscatella notes.
- Monster Hunter: World (OTCPK:CCOEY) topped the software dollar sales chart with the franchise's best debut, followed by Dragon Ball: Fighterz (OTCPK:NCBDF) -- that franchise's best opening since 2002. Call of Duty: WWII (NASDAQ:ATVI), Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (MSFT) and Grand Theft Auto V (NASDAQ:TTWO) all showed continuing strength at spots 3-5.
- Rounding out the software top 10: No. 6, NBA 2K18 (TTWO); No. 7, Super Mario Odyssey (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 8, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 9, Mario Kart 8 (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 10, Madden NFL 18 (NASDAQ:EA).
- After hours: SNE +1%, OTCPK:NTDOY flat, MSFT -0.2%, OTCPK:CCOEY inactive, OTCPK:NCBDF inactive, ATVI -0.4%, TTWO +0.6%, EA +1.9%.
- ETF: GAMR
- Previously: Videogames close 2017 with 11% year-over-year sales gain (Jan. 18 2018)
- Previously: Hardware push lifts December videogame sales 10% from 2016 (Jan. 18 2018)
- Now read: Activision Discounted Cash Flow Model
Original article