June 2021 NPD: Fantastic Sales & Growth Across The Board
Many analysts thought that 2021 video game sales would slow down when compared to the extraordinary pandemic-fueled purchases last year, but so far the industry has continued to surpass and surprise. Nintendo held 7 of the top 20 best selling games for the month of June, 2021 and since digital sales aren’t tracked for the company that’s not bad! Mario Golf: Super Rush debuted in the number three spot and dollar sales for the game were the highest achieved for a launch month in the series. Thanks to Mat Piscatella and ResetEra for the following information:
State of the market
June 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories grew 5% when compared to a year ago, totaling $4.9 billion. First half 2021 consumer spending reached $28.9 billion, a 15% increase when compared to the same period in 2020.
Hardware was the growth driver in June. Hardware dollar sales increased 112% when compared to a year ago as PlayStation, Switch and Xbox console sales all gained.
Hardware
June video game hardware dollar sales jumped 112% when compared to June 2020, to $401M. This is the highest total achieved in a June month since 2008 ($617M). Year-to-date hardware consumer spending has increased 45% compared to 2020’s first half, to $2.3B.
Xbox Series was the best-selling hardware platform in dollar sales for the month of June, while Nintendo Switch led in unit sales.
June dollar sales of Xbox consoles set a new record for the Xbox platform, besting the previous high set in June 2011.
Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform during 2021’s first half in both dollar and unit sales.
PlayStation 5 remains the fastest unit selling console hardware platform in U.S. history (lifetime sales through 8 months in market, excluding portables).
Accessories
June 2021 spending on video game accessories fell 1% compared to a year ago, to $207 million. First half accessory sales reached $1.2 billion, an increase of 14% when compared to the same period in 2020.
Sony’s DualSense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was the best-selling accessory of June 2021, while the DualSense Wireless Controller White led in first-half sales. Three of the top 4 best-selling accessories of June were DualSense Wireless Controllers.
Software
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart debuted as June’s best-selling game, achieving the highest launch month dollar sales of any title in franchise history. Launch month dollar sales more than doubled those of the previous high, set by Ratchet & Clank in April 2016.
Mario Golf: Super Rush launched as the 3rd best-selling game of June 2021. Launch month dollar sales were the highest ever achieved by a Mario Golf game. The previous high was set by Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, which launched for the Nintendo GameCube in July 2003.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 jumped from #51 in May to rank 17th on the June best-selling titles chart. The Switch version of the game was released in the U.S. during the month, accounting for most of the gains.
The June release of the A Pirate’s Life content update helped push Sea of Thieves up from 36th a month ago back into the top 20 best-seller’s chart. Sea of Thieves originally launched in March 2018.
[Sources: Mat Piscatella & ResetEra]
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
