US console, PC market up 11% in 2017 - NPD
Hardware sales drove growth and Switch drove hardware sales as number of retail releases trend upward
2017 was a good year for games in the US. That's according to the industry-tracking NPD Group, which today released its sales figures for December and the entire year, showing double-digit year-over-year growth in both.
During December, the US PC and console industry saw consumer spending up 10% year-over-year to $3.28 billion. For the year as a whole, sales were up 11% to $14.59 billion.
In both cases, that growth was driven by a sharp uptick in hardware sales (27% for the month, 28% for the year). According to NPD gaming analyst Mat Piscatella, the growth in hardware sales was driven primarily by the Nintendo Switch, which he noted has sold more in its first 10 months on sale than any other platform in history "on a time-aligned basis."
However, that's not to say Nintendo's the only company enjoying some success right now. For example, Sony's system was actually the best-selling console hardware for the year.
"Combined sales of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One continue on a record-setting pace," Piscatella said. "Over the first 50 months in market for each console, the combined hardware installed base of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One now exceeds that of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by 18 percent, and that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by 4 percent."
Piscatella also noted that 2017 was a more prolific year for retail releases than had been seen in some time, as there were 314 packaged titles that launched last year. That was up 16% from 2016's 271 packaged releases, and 36% from 2015's 230 retail titles.
The Entertainment Software Association released its own numbers for 2017, which it put together from the NPD and App Annie data about the mobile industry. According to the trade group, total US game industry revenue was up 18% year-over-year to $36 billion.
The NPD's best-seller charts for 2017 and December follow below.
