Total Video Game Industry Spending

February 2022 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 6% when compared to a year ago, to $4.4 billion. Declines were experienced across all major categories of spend, with hardware showing the largest year-on-year percentage decline. Year-to-date spending reached $9.1 billion, a 4% decrease when compared to the same time period last year.

 Video Game Hardware

Video game hardware dollar sales fell 27% when compared to February 2021, to $295 million. Year-to-date dollar sales are 5% lower than a year ago, at $685 million. The hardware market remains in a supply-constrained state.

Switch was the best-selling hardware platform of February 2022 in both units and dollars. Xbox Series ranked 2nd across both measures.

PlayStation 5 leads video game hardware in 2022 dollar sales year-to-date, while Switch has achieved the highest unit sales in the period.

 Premium Game Tracked Dollar Sales Spotlight (Excludes Post Launch Spending)

Elden Ring debuted as both the best-selling game of February 2022 as well as 2022 year to date. Launch month sales of Elden Ring were the 2nd highest for any tracked title released in the past 12 months, trailing only Call of Duty: Vanguard, which was released in November 2021. After one month on the market, Elden Ring ranked as the 5th best-selling game of the 12-month period ending February 2022. Elden Ring ranked 1st on Steam and Xbox platforms in February, while placing 2nd on PlayStation.

Horizon II: Forbidden West was the 2nd best-selling game of February 2022, while also ranking 1st on PlayStation platforms. Dollar sales of the PlayStation 5 version of Horizon II: Forbidden West set a new launch month record for the PlayStation 5 platform.

Total War: Warhammer III debuted as the #5 best-selling game of February 2022, while also ranking 2nd on Steam. The title also launched as part of the PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription services. 

Mobile Spotlight (Notes Provided by Sensor Tower)

February 2022 was the first time that  February spending was down year over year since the start of the pandemic, in this case by 2.5%. While it’s a sign the pandemic-fueled spending surge across mobile games as a whole is receding, there’s still plenty to be optimistic about in the category, which has seen a healthy influx of successful launches and new top earning titles despite the overall cooldown.

The top 10 earning mobile titles in the U.S. for February 2022 ranked by spending were: Candy Crush Saga, Roblox, Coin Master, Genshin Impact, Pokémon GO, Garena Free Fire, Evony: The King’s Return, Clash of Clans, Homescapes, and Royal Match. 

Video Game Accessories

February 2022 spending on video game accessories fell 7% when compared to a year ago, to $180 million. Thus far in 2022, dollar sales of video game accessories have fallen 11%, to $365 million.

The Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller was the best-selling accessory of both February as well as 2022 year-to-date.