US game spending up 3% to $4.4bn in September, says NPD

September saw US consumer spending on games reach $4.4 billion, a 3% increase year-on-year, according to the latest NPD data.

Year-to-date spending reached $42.3 billion, which is a 12% rise compared to the same time in 2020.

Spending on hardware increased 49% year-on-year, to reach $412 million. Year-to-date hardware spending saw growth of 49%, reaching $3.4 billion.

September broke the 33-month streak of the Nintendo Switch leading hardware sales, as the month saw the PlayStation 5 as the best-selling hardware platform in both units and dollars.

For games, Madden NFL 22 remained at No.1 since releasing on August 17. However, the month saw a number of new releases on the best-selling charts.

FIFA 22 came in second on the charts as NBA 2K22 was third. Tales of Arise from Bandai Namco was the fourth best-selling title while Diablo II: Resurrected placed fifth. Arkane Studios' latest FPS action title Deathloop was in sixth place as Square Enix's Life is Strange: True ColorS joined as tenth.

Overall spending on gaming content (including subscriptions and cloud gaming) was flat year-over-year at $3.78 billion.

Accessories spending was down by 12% year-on-year, totaling $171 million, while year-to-date accessory sales saw a 9% increase to $1.8 billion.

Here are the US Top 20 (based on dollar sales) for the period between 8/29/2021 through 10/2/2021, courtesy of The NPD Group:

*Digital sales not included