U.S. video game sales fall 3% in April, led by a 43% drop in hardware sales

U.S. Video Game Sales in April:

• Sales fell by 3% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, mainly due to a significant drop in hardware sales.
• Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X sales slowed down because of aging hardware and lack of major game launches.
• Nintendo anticipates a decline in profit with decreasing Switch console sales as they prepare for the launch of a new successor next year.
• Video game content sales increased by 2% to $3.74 billion in April, while hardware sales dropped by 43% to $208 million and accessories sales by 4% to $152 million.
• All major console makers experienced a decline in hardware platform sales, with the Switch showing the most significant year-on-year decline of 69%.

Top Selling Games in April:

• Sony's Stellar Blade and Helldivers II were the top-selling games, followed by Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
• Microsoft's Sea of Thieves and Fallout 4 ranked third and fourth, respectively, with the Fallout series benefiting from the debut of the Fallout TV show.

Year-to-Date U.S. Video Game Sales:

• Overall, video game sales in the U.S. rose by 4% to $18.76 billion year-to-date ending in April.
• Hardware sales declined by 28% to $1.33 billion, offset by an 8% increase in content sales to $16.58 billion and an 18% rise in accessories to $859 million.