NPD: US console sales in April up 163% to $420m

A surge in console sales drove the US video games market to its best April to date.
The NPD Group's latest figures show hardware sales more than doubled year-on-year, up 163% to $420 million.
It's the highest April hardware spend since 2008's $427 million. Year-to-date spending on consoles has risen by 30% year-on-year to $1.2 billion.
The main driver of this growth has been Nintendo Switch, no doubt buoyed by the ongoing success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, plus the COVID-19 prevention measures which have seen much of the nation stay at home, in need of entertainment.
Nintendo's console topped both the unit sales and dollar rankings in the US last month. Year-to-date dollar sales of Nintendo Switch are now the highest for any platform in US history, shattering the record set by the Wii in April 2009.
But it's worth noting that Sony and Microsoft also fared well last month. As with the Switch, both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One saw hardware sales rise by more than 160% when compared to April 2019.
Total spending on games hardware, software, accessories and game cards rose 73% year-on-year to $1.5 billion, setting a new record for an April month's reported spend. The previous bar was set by April 2008, when US gamers spent $1.2 billion.
Year-to-date total spend stands at $4.5 billion, up 12% compared to this point last year.
Software naturally generated the most dollar sales at $662 million -- also a record high for an April month. The previous record was $642 million, again in April 2008.
The US has spent more than $2 billion on games software so far this year, 6% higher than the same period in 2019.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ent-to-usd420m