US game spending up 42% in January, says NPD

Americans spent more on games to start 2021 than in any previous January, according to the industry tracking NPD Group.
NPD today reported that US consumers combined to spend $4.71 billion on games last month, up 42% year-over-year.
Hardware had the largest relative gains, up 144% year-over-year to $319 million thanks to the launch of new consoles and the continued strength of the Nintendo Switch.
The Switch was the best-selling console in terms of systems sold last month, but the pricier PlayStation 5 took the top spot when looking at the dollar sales total.
The Switch's unit sales were the highest seen in January since the Wii in 2010, while the PS5's dollar total was the largest since the Wii in 2009.
Spending on game content across console, mobile, PC, cloud, and subscription services was up 36% to $4.17 billion.
The full game sales charts saw little movement, with no new releases cracking the top 20 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War retaining the top spot for the third straight month.
Despite only launching in November, Black Ops Cold War is already the 20th best-selling game in terms of lifetime dollar sales since the NPD began tracking the numbers in 1995.

US game spending up 42% in January, says NPD | GamesIndustry.biz