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US game spending grows 16% to $4.6bn in October, says NPD | US monthly charts

With the launch of the OLED Model, the Nintendo Switch reclaims position as best selling console for the month

During October US consumer spending on games reached $4.6 billion, a 16% increase year-over-year according to the latest NPD data.

Year to date spending reached $46.7 billion, which is up 12% compared to the same time in 2020.

Consumer spending on hardware increased 82% year-on-year, to $472 million. Year-to-date hardware spending grew 53% to $3.9 billion.

Aided by the release of the OLED Model, the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console for the month in both units and dollars.

For games, Far Cry 6 debuted as No. 1 while also being the eight best-selling game of 2021 to date. It was also the top selling title on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms in October.

Second on the charts was Back 4 Blood as Metroid Dread was third best-selling title.

Overall spending on gaming content (including subscriptions and cloud gaming) saw a 11% increase year-over-year at $3.76 billion.

Accessories spending was up by 5% year-on-year, for a total of $158 million, as year-to-date accessory sales saw a 9% increase when compared to last year.

Here are the US Top 20 (based on dollar sales) for the period between 8/29/2021 through 10/2/2021, courtesy of The NPD Group:

Last Month This Month Title
NEW 1 Far Cry 6
NEW 2 Back 4 Blood
NEW 3 Metroid: Dread*
1 4 Madden NFL 22
NEW 5 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hinokami Chronicles
2 6 FIFA 22
NEW 7 Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
NEW 8 Mario Party Superstars*
8 9 NHL 22
3 10 NBA 2K22*
11 11 Mario Kart 8*
7 12 Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
8 13 Ghost of Tsushima
17 14 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
14 15 Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
14 16 Minecraft
9 17 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
5 18 Diablo II: Resurrected
20 19 Mortal Kombat 11
25 20 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*

*Digital sales not included

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Jeffrey Rousseau

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Jeffrey Rousseau joined GamesIndustry.biz in March 2021. Based in Florida, his work focused on the intersectionality of games and media. He enjoys reading, podcasts, staying informed, and learning how people are tackling issues.