COVID-19 makes video game sales spike

While a lot of industries are hurt really bad by the COVID-19 pandemic, video game software and hardware is a big exception. Data from market research firm NPD reveals consumers in the US spend a total of $1.2 billion on hardware, software, and accessories in June 2020, the highest for a June month since $1.3 billion was reached in June 2009.

For the first half of this year, revenue reached $6.6 billion, which is the highest total for this period since $7.0 billion was achieved in 2010.

NPD says video game software sales hit $570 million in June, up 49 percent year-over-year. This is the highest figure for a June month since $598 million was reached in 2010.

The best-selling game of June was The Last of Us: Part II. This game hit the highest launch month dollar figure of any 2020 release to date, and is now the third best-selling game of 2020.

US NPD VG - Year-to-date tracked spending across Video Game hardware, software, accessories and game cards reached $6.6 billion, an increase of 19% when compared to a year ago. This is the highest total for the year-to-date period since $7.0 billion was achieved in 2010. pic.twitter.com/r1DlD7OIfM

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) July 17, 2020