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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Courtesy of Welfare from Installbase forum!

State of the market
Projected U.S. total spending on video game hardware, content and accessories grew 2% in Feb vs YA, to $4.7B. 17% growth in Mobile content spending vs YA helped offset a 30% drop in hardware. (Mobile source: Sensor Tower)

Hardware
February video game hardware spending declined 30% when compared to a year ago, to $349 million. All console platforms were down a minimum of 19% compared to a year ago.

PlayStation 5 led the February and year-to-date hardware market in both unit and dollar sales. Nintendo Switch finished 2nd in unit sales, while Xbox Series placed 2nd in dollars across both time periods.

Software
To go along with the growth in Mobile, February 2024 consumer spending in the PC, Cloud and Non-Console VR content segment increased by a high single-digit percentage when compared to a year ago, while both the Console as well as the Subscription content segments declined.

Helldivers II debuted as the best-selling premium game of the year. Helldivers II launch month dollar sales represent the 7th highest total ever achieved by a Sony published title in the U.S. (excludes add-on content). Nearly 60% of Helldivers II sales in Feb came from Steam.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was the #2 best-selling premium game of February, instantly becoming the 4th best-selling game of 2024 YTD. Also debuting on the chart in February was the Final Fantasy VII Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack, placing 8th in February and at #16 for the year.

Dead Island 2 was released on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in February without an announcement from either Microsoft or publisher Plaion prior to its release. This helped Dead Island 2 jump from #121 in Xbox Series monthly active users in January to 8th on the February chart.

Mobile
Sensor Tower reports the top 10 Mobile games by U.S. consumer spend in Feb and rank chg vs Jan as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon Go (+5), Coin Master (-1), Whiteout Survival, Clash of Clans (+1), Jackpot Party – Casino Slots (-1), and Township (-4).

“The biggest news this month is that Sensor Tower data now shows that US mobile gaming spend is up a whopping 17% year-on-year in February 2024. This lift looks to be due to... games like MONOPOLY GO!, which didn't exist a year ago,” said Samuel Aune of Sensor Tower.

“Pokémon GO had some of its biggest annual events in February, leading to a 60% increase in spend for the month over its January 2024 revenue… Township drove 20% less spend than the previous month," said Samuel Aune of Sensor Tower.


Accessories
Accessories spending in February grew 25% when compared to a year ago to $219M, driven in part by a 14% increase in Gamepad spending and the new Remote Play Devices accessories segment (which includes PlayStation Portal).

PlayStation Portal was the best-selling Accessory of February in dollar sales, while the PS5 Dual Sense Edge Wireless Controller remains the best-selling accessory of 2024 year-to-date.


Software Charts

Year to Date

PlayStation Platforms

Xbox Platforms

Nintendo Platforms

Monthly Active User Engagement
Top 10 Games Played on PlayStation 5 Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)

Top 10 Games Played on Xbox Series Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)

Top 10 Games Played on Steam Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)

Rankings
Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
Revenue: PS5 > XBS > NSW

Update
Each console is down at least 19% YOY

 

[Interfectum]

Helldivers II debuted as the best-selling premium game of the year. Helldivers II launch month dollar sales represent the 7th highest total ever achieved by a Sony published title in the U.S. (excludes add-on content). Nearly 60% of Helldivers II sales in Feb came from Steam.

Expect that gap to widen over time.

 

[Jaybe]

Edit:
Seems like @trex32hyre may not be the most reliable insider! Shame Mat is so damn vague on platform performance.

 

[Kacho]

Update
Each console is down at least 19% YOY

Damn!

 

[MasterCornholio]

Holy crap at Xbox....

 

[jm89]

Lol I really have no idea why he does this?

Minimum of 19%????

What a useless number.

 

[jm89]

Holy crap at Xbox....

I think the guy was joking.

His insinuating Mat might be covering up a possible big decline for Xbox.

As we can't figure out what decline each platform had, using the minimum 19% decline.

 

[Kacho]

Mat is always purposely vague with his comments. We don’t know if the drop is units or revenue.

 

[Interfectum]

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[nial]

Do we have the numbers for last year?
2023 was the best February in units sold for a single PlayStation console, so no surprises over there.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Xbox down by 64%????!!!!! In NA???

That has got to be some sort of typo.

 

[Kacho]

Xbox down by 64%????!!!!! In NA???

That has got to be some sort of typo.

No. That wasn’t confirmed. It’s just a guy shitposting on Twitter.

 

[UchihaMadara]

From Installbase estimates:

Using 19% drops YOY would mean at most:

PS5: <<470K
Switch: <<230K
XBS: <<210K

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Yeah, we're not getting any additional sales data from Mat on FF7 Rebirth besides what is in the OP.

 

[nial]

Circana is so shit, god.

From Installbase estimates:

Using 19% drops YOY would mean at most:

PS5: <<470K
Switch: <<230K
XBS: <<210K

If we assume Mat is talking about units and not revenue.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

YOY =

 

[Little Chicken]

Helldivers being #1 in sales but only #7 on the player engagement chart demonstrates what an uphill battle new GaaS games have over established ones.

Palworld holding at #3 on Xbox above GTA, ROBLOX and Minecraft is big. Dead Island 2 jumping from #121 to #8 thanks to Game Pass

 

[Little Mac]

Bought Helldivers 2 for PS5 about a week ago and having a blast. Might have a little PTSD and see Eagle Airstrike codes in clouds but those ship modules are totally worth it.

 

[onQ123]

PlayStation Portal & Edge puting in work

If you don't have PlayStation Portal do yourself a favor and get one it's somehow better than playing your PS5 on TV

 

[yazenov]

From Installbase estimates:

Using 19% drops YOY would mean at most:

PS5: <<470K
Switch: <<230K
XBS: <<210K

All of them can't drop 19% equally. it's not possible.

I think Xbox has the biggest drop, then Nintendo, then Sony. It's a shame Circana arent providing accurate percentages

 

[adamsapple]

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Nvm, could be a troll.

 

[MasterCornholio]

I think the guy was joking.

His insinuating Mat might be covering up a possible big decline for Xbox.

As we can't figure out what decline each platform had, using the minimum 19% decline.

I wouldn't be surprised if Xbox had the biggest decline given how things are going for them.

Edit: Now I'm confused.

 

[DrFigs]

hmm.... i just don't believe him

 

[LordCBH]

-64%?! Holy balls.

 

[UchihaMadara]

 

[adamsapple]

hmm.... i just don't believe him

Who, Mat or the unknown twitter profile who wrote the percentage out of thin air?

 

[jm89]

Who, Mat or the unknown twitter profile who wrote the percentage out of thin air?

 

[DrFigs]

Who, Mat or the unknown twitter profile who wrote the percentage out of thin air?

I don't believe the guy who made up numbers either. It's just shocking if Xbox did the best (in terms of sales drop) knowing what the numbers from Europe were.

 

[yazenov]

Rankings
Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
Revenue: PS5 > XBS > NSW

XBS is still dead last at 3rd place in units. I guess he means in revenue?

 

[demigod]

From Installbase estimates:

Using 19% drops YOY would mean at most:

PS5: <<470K
Switch: <<230K
XBS: <<210K

Someone failed at math

 

[Jaybe]

Circana is so shit, god.

If we assume Mat is talking about units and not revenue.

Mat with his usual snark told Welfare it was revenue. Maybe Mat in the future could write clearer with adding what the basic metric is. But NDP was always where the bottom of the barrel analysts went to, so I’m not surprised.

 

[Kacho]

I don't believe the guy who made up numbers either. It's just shocking if Xbox did the best (in terms of sales drop) knowing what the numbers from Europe were.

Wasn't Xbox struggling with shortages last year? That would mean Xbox is further down this year without shortages.

 

[Woopah]

Two PS5 exclusives in the Top 10! Very strong performance from both HellDivers and FF Rebirth.

Lol I really have no idea why he does this?

Minimum of 19%????

What a useless number.

He does this because Circana want people to pay for access to the full information.

Rankings
Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
Revenue: PS5 > XBS > NSW

XBS is still dead last at 3rd place in units. I guess he means in revenue?

I think he means that Xbox had the 19% drop, while the others dropped more.

 

[SlimySnake]

Hope Sony learns from this. You have arguably the most viral Sony exclusive in years topping the charts and it still led to a 36% drop in sales.

If the exclusives are not selling consoles then they are going to find themselves in the same situation as Microsoft. Not right away but eventually. Everyone wants to be on steam to increase their profits but if it comes at the cost of selling consoles and increasing your eco system dollars then wtf is the point? The entire point of an exclusive is to drive console sales.

 

[UchihaMadara]

 

[Loomy]

PlayStation Portal was the best-selling Accessory of February in dollar sales

This will never not be funny to me. The funniest part, though, is that not even Sony knows why this thing is so popular.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Top games on Xbox are barf. CoD, Madden, Skull and Bones, Suicide Squad ewww

 

[LordOcidax]

Two PS5 exclusives in the Top 10! Very strong performance from both HellDivers and FF Rebirth.


He does this because Circana want people to pay for access to the full information.

I think he means that Xbox had the 19% drop, while the others dropped more.

Yes

 

[yazenov]

I think he means that Xbox had the 19% drop, while the others dropped more.

I meant the percentages would change based on units or revenue. I assume Matt mentioned a 19% drop based on revenue.

 

[Deerock71]

Yeah, we're not getting any additional sales data from Mat on FF7 Rebirth besides what is in the OP.

Translation: He doesn't want to further inflame the already hurt butts out there.

 

[LordOcidax]

Did we have numbers for Tekken?

 

[onQ123]

Why the hell did they give Mobile all the the credit for the $94 million uplift when $54.7 million of that uplift came from the 25% increase of Accessories?

Avoided giving the credit to PlayStation Portal & PS Edge


Edit: nevermind I calculated that wrong but still the statement remains lol

That's ~ $43.8 of the ~ $92 million uplift from Accessories

 

[Kacho]

Translation: He doesn't want to further inflame the already hurt butts out there.

Still no PR from Square either. It is what it is.

 

[leo-j]

so basically based on matt responding to that troll post:

xbox -19%?
ps -20+%
switch -20+%

tbh the decline in playstation sales considering the stock availability, slim bundled with spiderman, and the launch of FF is very bad for the market.... PC and mobile are really taking off this year.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Helldivers being #1 in sales but only #7 on the player engagement chart demonstrates what an uphill battle new GaaS games have over established ones.

Or maybe its because its been on the market for only like 2+ weeks at the time of this tracking? You shouldn't really be comparing player engagement to IPs that have userbases that are like 6-10 times larger and have been around for a while.

 

[Woopah]

I meant the percentages would change based on units or revenue. I assume Matt mentioned a 19% drop based on revenue.

Matt confirmed that it's revenue. So Xbox revenue is down 19%, and PS5 and Switch revenue are down more than that.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Hope Sony learns from this. You have arguably the most viral Sony exclusive in years topping the charts and it still led to a 19% drop in sales.

If the exclusives are not selling consoles then they are going to find themselves in the same situation as Microsoft. Not right away but eventually. Everyone wants to be on steam to increase their profits but if it comes at the cost of selling consoles and increasing your eco system dollars then wtf is the point? The entire point of an exclusive is to drive console sales.

You might want to check that thread sharing stats from France.

 

[yazenov]

BTW that's only 3 days of tracking for FF7 Rebirth. 4th rank in year-to-date software sales charts is nothing to sneeze at. Some people won't be happy with this