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[Luminoth-4545]

Credit: Welfare from InstallBase

State of the market
September 2023 US Video Game Market Highlights from Circana - U.S. consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories grew 10% compared to a year ago, totaling $4.5B. Growth in spending on video game content and accessories offset an 8% decline in hardware.

Spending on video game content in September increased 13% vs YA, reaching $3.8B. Growth in digital premium download spending across console & PC drove most of the gains. Non-mobile subscription spending fell 2%, while Sensor Tower reported mobile spending growth of 4%.

Hardware
Video game hardware spending fell 8% when compared to a year ago, to $451 million. Single-digit percentage growth in consumer spending on Xbox Series hardware was offset by declines across both PlayStation 5 and Switch.

PlayStation 5 remained the best-selling hardware platform in both unit and dollar sales during September 2023, with Xbox Series again ranking 2nd across both measures.

PlayStation 5 continued to lead the 2023 hardware market across both units and dollars. Year-to-date hardware spending was 10% higher when compared to the same period in 2022, at $3.7 billion.

Software
Starfield was the best-selling game of September, instantly becoming the 7th best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date. Starfield ranked as the best-selling title of the month across both Xbox and PC, with PC being its lead sales platform.

Mortal Kombat 1 debuted as the 2nd best-selling game of September and the #8 best-selling game of 2023 YTD. Mortal Kombat 1 was the best-selling game of the month on PlayStation platforms, placed 2nd on both Xbox and PC, and ranked 3rd on Nintendo Switch.

EA Sports FC 24 was the 3rd best-selling game of September. Double-digit percentage growth was seen across both units and dollars when compared to FIFA 23’s September 2022 launch month. EA Sports FC 24 launched as the 14th best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date ending September.

Mobile
In Mobile content, Sensor Tower reports the top 10 games by U.S. consumer spending in September as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon GO, Coin Master, Gardenscapes, Jackpot Party – Casino Slots, Evony and Homescapes.

“US mobile gaming spend in September 2023 showed a modest increase (+4.3%) compared to September 2022,” said Samuel Aune of Sensor Tower. “Interestingly, the list of top ten mobile games by revenue in the US did not change at all compared to last month!"

"MONOPOLY GO! remains firmly on top, with the #2 to #4 games Royal Match, Roblox, and Candy Crush clustered together, but trailing Scopely's hit by a wide margin. Spend in Pokémon GO came down from the high of August, Pokémon GO’s World Championships month," said Aune.

Accessories
Accessories spending during September increased 11% when compared to a year ago, to $197 million. Gamepad spending increased by 15% in the month compared to a year ago, while Racing Controller spending grew by 18%.

The PS5 Dual Sense Wireless Controller – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition was the best-selling accessory of the month in consumer spending.

Software charts

Year To Date

Nintendo / PlayStation / Xbox charts are no longer being reported.

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

YTD Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
YTD Revenue: PS5 > NSW > XBS


Welfare's estimation from InstallBase
PS5: 480K
XBS: 300K
NSW: 200K

Full Estimations for 2023

Month	PS5	XBS	NSW
Jan-23	430,000	200,000	280,000
Feb-23	560,000	240,000	290,000
Mar-23	660,000	280,000	340,000
Apr-23	360,000	180,000	420,000
May-23	270,000	160,000	450,000
Jun-23	430,000	240,000	350,000
Jul-23	270,000	160,000	240,000
Aug-23	360,000	210,000	200,000
Sep-23	480,000	300,000	200,000
YTD	3,830,000	1,970,000	2,770,000

Results for 2022 (NSW monthly numbers are Welfare's estimations but it's total is from NPD. PS5 and XBS monthly and total numbers are from NPD)

Month	PS5	XBS	NSW
Jan-22	369,000	307,000	270,000
Feb-22	128,000	261,000	410,000
Mar-22	282,000	489,000	540,000
Apr-22	234,000	267,000	365,000
May-22	119,000	177,000	270,000
Jun-22	277,000	260,000	385,000
Jul-22	301,000	147,000	310,000
Aug-22	341,000	251,000	295,000
Sep-22	494,00	288,000	325,000
Oct-22	456,000	261,000	250,000
Nov-22	1,328,000	730,000	920,000
Dec-22	1,331,000	942,000	1,490,000
Total	5,660,000	4,480,000	5,830,000

NPD 2022 Yearly and Lifetime sales

	2022	LTD
NSW	5,830,000	39,410,000
PS5	5,660,000	11,900,000
XBS	4,480,000	9,700,000
PS4	50,000	34,760,000

 

[TheBomb]

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Starfield not being enough to push XS to #1 and only giving it a single digital % increase YoY is really not a good sign for Xbox as a hardware business. I'd love to see a breakdown in sales/users between Xbox and PC to confirm.

If (the admittedly mid) Starfield can't do it, I'm not sure anything can.

 

[jroc74]

These are some interesting results for sure.

 

[GHG]

Really want to see the platform split for starfield. Wouldn't be surprised to see >60% on PC.

 

[Elios83]

Modest growth for Xbox hardware, not able to surpass PS5 sales even for a month, most of Starfield sales were on PC.
Seems like Microsoft has successfully killed their console sales with their business strategies.
The positive is that Starfield sales were overall good although we'll see the legs in the coming months.

 

[ToadMan]

Finally MS gets some sales success in its home territory.

US&A... and Fifa is still 3rd?

Ok weird month....

 

[gokurho]

We are Starfield
this is our engagement

 

[Adam_802]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

 

[Reckheim]

Looks like Starfield sold a lot more on steam then Xbox (understandably). But if Microsofts goal is to increase subs on PC (based on their leaks); I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Definitely would have expected hardware to be #1 tho. Same thing; people that already own an xbox were probably subbed to gamepass. If you don't see a decent bump in hardware sales; are you seeing a decent bump in new subscriptions?

Interesting results.

 

[GHG]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

Every time man, every time.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Finally MS gets some sales success in its home territory.

US&A... and Fifa is still 3rd?

Ok weird month....

FC 24 came out Sep. 29...

It's basically 3rd with just 2 DAYS!!

 

[Horseganador]

"""Single-digit percentage growth in consumer spending on Xbox Series hardware""" Starfield has hardly moved any hardware when it was MS's main bet to change the direction of the brand.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

MS/Xbox and Bethesda:

 

[Ozriel]

Spirited attempts to shape a narrative around Starfield when it’s already hit the 7th best selling game of the year in the U.S. after one month of sales.

Looks like great success, all round. Weird to fixate on ‘single digit growth’ when everything else posted a drop.

Not to mention the growth % is in comparison with September 2022. Ideally we’d need to see the sales compared to last month to determine Starfield’s impact on hardware.

 

[Thief1987]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

Going by xbox position ang grow percentage, Starfield did pretty much nothing for it, even if sales were actually decent

 

[AALLx]

Makes sense given that Starfield has been at the top of Steam's best seller list for a good 2 weeks. Majority of its sales seems to be on the PC which is expected. Doesn't bode well for Xbox's hardware strategy though if their tentpole only caused a single digit percentage bump.

 

[Taycan77]

GT7 two months on the bounce in NPD top 20. US not the best market for racing games so I’m surprised. Even with the movie effect.

I think it must be close to, if not not passed, 10m by now.

 

[mckmas8808]

Nintendo / PlayStation / Xbox charts are no longer being reported.

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

YTD Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
YTD Revenue: PS5 > NSW > XBS

Of course charts aren't being reported anymore.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Going by xbox position ang grow percentage it did pretty much nothing for it, even if sales were actually decent

Sales come mostly from Steam, not Xbox Store

 

[HeWhoWalks]

So much for it being a "flop", lol

You don't know that it isn't "lol"

If it did not meet expectations, that's considered a flop. Of course, Microsoft won't ever tell it, but it's silly to assume it did better than expected based solely on this. Particularly for Xbox, where it did relatively nothing for the hardware. Plus, what about the rest of the world?

 

[Reave]

A #1 selling game and a solid month of hardware sold is pretty good... unless you're someone intent on exaggerating Starfield as a dire make-or-break moment for Microsoft’s future in the console space.

 

[Ozriel]

Sales come mostly from Steam, not Xbox Store

Not sure how that distinction is relevant, since it’s a retail storefront for MS.
You imagine the money doesn’t go to MS?

 

[GHG]

Makes sense given that Starfield has been at the top of Steam's best seller list for a good 2 weeks. Majority of its sales seems to be on the PC which is expected. Doesn't bode well for Xbox's hardware strategy though if their tentpole only caused a single digit percentage bump.

It's just taking a long time for Xbox to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time....

 

[Die Namek Ability]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

Wait thats what you took from this!?

 

[demigod]

Spiderman bundles doing work. There was 0 chance Starfield would help xbox being number 1. Time to firesale during the holidays again.

 

[H-I-M]

So Xbox's biggest release in history was only able to push the hardware to #2?

Congrats I guess.

 

[mckmas8808]

Looks like Starfield sold a lot more on steam then Xbox (understandably). But if Microsofts goal is to increase subs on PC (based on their leaks); I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Definitely would have expected hardware to be #1 tho. Same thing; people that already own an xbox were probably subbed to gamepass. If you don't see a decent bump in hardware sales; are you seeing a decent bump in new subscriptions?

Interesting results.

The results are this.......

Non-mobile subscription spending fell 2%,

I guess some of that could have been PS+, but I doubt it was all PS+

 

[SmokedMeat]

Starfield blasting off baby!

 

[MisterXDTV]

Not sure how that distinction is relevant, since it’s a retail storefront for MS.
You imagine the money doesn’t go to MS?

It's relevant because Steam has nothing to do with the Xbox brand...

 

[Ozriel]

It's just taking a long time for Xbox to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time....

The same company that’s been putting their games day one on PC for nearly a decade now, and is actively pushing for game streaming of all their titles on compatible browsers?

Lmao

It's relevant because Steam has nothing to do with the Xbox brand...

Is this a joke post?
Xbox games on Steam and the Microsoft Store are part of the Xbox platform.
Whatyearisthis.jpg

 

[kaizenkko]

Seems like Xbox is dead as a console. lol

 

[MisterXDTV]

The same company that’s been putting their games day one on PC for nearly a decade now, and is actively pushing for game streaming of all their titles on compatible browsers?

Lmao



Is this a joke post?

The only joke here are your posts

 

[GHG]

The same company that’s been putting their games day one on PC for nearly a decade now, and is actively pushing for game streaming of all their titles on compatible browsers?

Lmao



Is this a joke post?

Hey man, don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Misterhbk]

Starfield didn’t push any hardware, and sub spending fell 2% across the month….

This isn’t good is it?

 

[MisterXDTV]

So Xbox's biggest release in history was only able to push the hardware to #2?

Congrats I guess.

Yeah baby, they were able to surpass the nearly 7-year old Nintendo Switch for a month in the US!!!

Next month back to last place as usual

 

[DForce]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

You're going to need more than the first month's sales to see how well it's doing in the sales department.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

this is not everything that startield has to do for xbox.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It's just taking a long time for Xbox to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time....

3rd party publishing is the only future for Xbox.

OT:

Not bad, but Xbox not even able to outsell PS5 in their strongest market, with their biggest release so far, while Sony "didn't have games" is a bad sign for Xbox.

People don't seem to care much for Xbox anymore.

 

[Darsxx82]

I was seeing how a Gamepass game is 1 in sales in September and 7 of the year only with the sales of a single month and how could someone come up with some argument to discredit that data and draw some negative conclusion about the future of Xbox... .. We didn't have to wait long to see them

LOL, absolutely sales on PC were going to be higher than on XSeries since there is more user base on PC, more historical Bethesda fans also on PC, and also gamepass is more assimilated on console. The fact is that even though it is a game whose vast majority would play via gamepass, it has positioned itself as one of the best-selling games of the year in just one month and without being a game with a PS5 version. That it has surpassed a release of the caliber of FFXVI should perhaps be studied if FFXVI was supposed to have been a sales success .

PS. I see that now the narrative is that MS kills its console by selling its games day one on PC...... The fact is that it's been 5 years since that happened

 

[jm89]

Number 2 even the month the game of the generation comes out. Oof.

PS5 had barley anything going for it in september.

No discount was active and very limited spiderman bundles.

 

[The Last One]

Starfield at #7th for the year. Now that's a game that loves the number 7.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Xbox games on Steam are part of the Xbox platform.

 

[Duchess]

Hogwarts Legacy at #1 Year to Date

ResetEra:

 

[Kurotri]

Starfield at #7th for the year. Now that's a game that loves the number 7.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Starfield doing work for Xbox!

So much for it being a "flop", lol

Barely a month in and it already got a 10% discount on xbox.

 

[yazenov]

So the biggest Xbox game that was supposed to be the game of the generation didn't even manage to bump it's sales past the PS5 for a single month.

What other huge exclusive games is supposed to sell the console after Starfield? It looks like the Xbox Series will be back to selling worst than the Xbox One after the minor blimp in the radar for this month.

Back to business as usual for Xbox , while the PS5 will be dropping the megaton that is Spiderman 2 on October.

 

[MrTired]

"""Single-digit percentage growth in consumer spending on Xbox Series hardware""" Starfield has hardly moved any hardware when it was MS's main bet to change the direction of the brand.

To be fair it actually did when you factor the Xbox has been down YOY by double digits so for it to be up single digits shows that Starfield did sell systems.

I actually surprised and impressed how much Starfield generated in revenue. Not surprised PC was the leading platform for Starfield.

 

[GHG]

Starfield didn’t push any hardware, and sub spending fell 2% across the month….

This isn’t good is it?

This is the biggest highlight in all of this.

To be fair it actually did when you factor the Xbox has been down YOY by double digits so for it to be up single digits shows that Starfield did sell systems.

I actually surprised and impressed how much Starfield generated in revenue. Not surprised PC was the leading platform for Starfield.

The "single digits" is for the month my man, not the year.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Single digit growth with Starfield “the most hyped game ever”?

That’s a wrap right there.