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Sales Data Circana December 2023: #1 MWIII #2 Wonder #3 Madden; PS5 #1 Units + Rev, Switch #2 Units + Rev, XBS #3

Luminoth9090

Luminoth9090

Moblin
Credit: Welfare from InstallBase

www.installbaseforum.com

Circana December 2023: #1 COD MWIII #2 Mario Wonder #3 Madden; PS5 #1 Units + Revenue, Switch #2 Units + Revenue​

www.installbaseforum.com
www.installbaseforum.com


State of the market

Annual U.S. spending on video game content, hardware and accessories reached $57.2 billion in 2023, an increase of 1% when compared to 2022. December spending grew 4%, to $7.9 billion.

Video game content spending ended 2023 1% higher than 2022, driven by a 13% increase in digital premium download (full game) spending on console platforms.

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Hardware

Video game hardware spending ended 2023 flat vs YA, at $6.6B. Growth in PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales helped offset declines across both Xbox Series and Switch. PlayStation 5 ended 2023 as the best-selling hardware platform in both units and dollars.

December hardware spending reached $1.6 billion, an increase of 4% when compared to December 2022. Growth in Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales offset a double-digit percentage decline for Nintendo Switch. PlayStation 5 was the best-selling hardware platform of December 2023 in both units and dollars, with Switch placing 2nd across each measure.

Dollar sales of Sony video game hardware set a new 1-month record for the manufacturer, beating the previous Sony high set in December 2022.

Software

Hogwarts Legacy finished as 2023’s best-selling video game in the U.S. market in dollar sales. It is the first year since 2008 that a non-Call of Duty or Rockstar developed title ranked 1st (Rock Band).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was both the best-selling game of Dec and the #2 best-selling game of 2023. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ended 2023 ranked 7th. Call of Duty was the best-selling franchise in U.S. full game dollar sales for a record 15th consecutive year.

Fortnite featured the highest unique monthly active users on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles in the US market during December, while Lethal Company ranked 1st on Steam. 36% of active PlayStation 5 players (up from 31% in Nov) and 31% of active Xbox Series players (up from 28% in Nov) played Fortnite at least once during December. (Source: Circana Player Engagement Tracker)

Inclusion in subscription offerings again helped several titles see big boosts in active user counts in Dec. On PlayStation 5, PowerWash Simulator ranked 9th in monthly active users in Dec, up from #318 in Nov. On Xbox Series consoles, Goat Simulator bounded from 245th to 7th.

Mobile

Sensor Tower reports the top 10 mobile games by U.S. spend in Dec and rank chg vs Nov as: MONOPOLY GO!, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans (+9), Coin Master (-1), Evony (+2), Pokémon GO (-2), Call of Duty: Mobile (+3) and Jackpot Party – Casino Slots (-3).

“US mobile gaming consumer spend in December 2023 showed yet another modest increase (+2.7%) compared to December 2022," said Samuel Aune of Sensor Tower. "...while the top four (games) continue to be stable with MONOPOLY GO! on top, Clash of Clans made a huge run this month, moving up 9 ranks,” said Aune. “Clash of Clans wasn’t the only winner this month, with all the top ten showing revenue growth in Dec relative to Nov."

The top 10 mobile games by U.S. consumer spending in 2023 according to Sensor Tower were: MONOPOLY GO!, Candy Crush Saga, Roblox, Royal Match, Coin Master, Pokémon GO, Gardenscapes, Jackpot Party – Casino Slots, Township and Evony.

Accessories

Accessories spending finished the year 4% higher than a year ago, at $2.6 billion. A 7% increase in sales of Gamepads drove the growth. The PS5 Dual Sense Edge was the best-selling gamepad of 2023 in dollar sales.

December 2023 accessories spending was 14% higher than in December 2022, at $584 million. 21% growth in December sales of Gamepads was the primary reason for the increase. December Headset/Headphone spending grew by 5% year-on-year.

Software Charts

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Year To Date

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Monthly Active User Engagement

November 2023 Top 20 Games Played on PlayStation 5 Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)

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November 2023 Top 20 Games Played on Xbox Series Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)
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November 2023 Top 20 Games Played on Steam Ranked by Monthly Active Users (US)
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Rankings
Units: PS5 > NSW > XBS
Revenue: PS5 > NSW > XBS

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

Thanks Mat Piscatella!





PS5 is a minimum of 10% up yoy (from 1331K), XBS had it's best December so it is above Dec 2021 (1076K) and Switch is a minimum of 10% down yoy (from 1490K).

Unit Sales
PS5 - > 1464K
NSW - < 1341K > XBS
XBS - > 1076K

Welfare's Estimate's
PS5 - 1530K
NSW - 1250K
XBS - 1130K
 
Last edited:
Full Estimations for 2023

MonthPS5XBSNSW
Jan-23430,000200,000280,000
Feb-23560,000240,000290,000
Mar-23660,000280,000340,000
Apr-23360,000180,000420,000
May-23270,000160,000450,000
Jun-23430,000240,000350,000
Jul-23270,000160,000240,000
Aug-23400,000210,000200,000
Sep-23490,000300,000200,000
Oct -23370,000200,000210,000
Nov - 231,050,000580,000570,000
Dec - 231,530,0001,130,0001,250,000
20236,830,0003,880,0004,800,000
LTD18,730,00013,580,00044,210,000

Results for 2022 for comparison (NSW monthly numbers are Welfare's revised estimates but it's yearly total is from NPD, PS5 and XBS monthly and total numbers are from NPD)

MonthPS5XBSNSW
Jan-22369,000307,000270,000
Feb-22128,000261,000410,000
Mar-22282,000489,000540,000
Apr-22234,000267,000365,000
May-22119,000177,000270,000
Jun-22277,000260,000385,000
Jul-22301,000147,000310,000
Aug-22341,000251,000295,000
Sep-22494,00288,000325,000
Oct-22456,000261,000250,000
Nov-221,328,000730,000920,000
Dec-221,331,000942,0001,490,000
20225,660,0004,480,0005,830,000
LTD11,900,0009,700,00039,410,000
 
Last edited:
Good god, 6 games out of top 10 of Switch in 2024 has Mario in it. Do not like it a bit, this is just way too much. Nintendo needs to push other series with the same monster marketing Mario receives atm.
 
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* Estimates, CESA white paper will give us the exact NPD numbers for 2023 later this year

Top Three Selling Platforms in the U.S per Calendar Year (millions of units)
Note: 1987 - 1993 is data found on Video Game Sales Wiki and may not be completely accurate, 1994 onwards is from NPD

1987
NES - 3.00
???
???

1988
NES - 5.00
???
???

1989
NES - 9.00
GB - 1.50
GEN - 0.50

1990
NES - 7.20
GB - 3.90
GEN - 1.00

1991
NES - 4.40
GB - 2.10
SNES - 2.00

1992
SNES - 4.90
GEN - 4.50
GB - 3.20

1993
GEN - 5.50
SNES - 4.40
GB - 3.60

1994
GEN - 3.27
SNES - 2.82
GB - 2.22

1995
SNES - 2.32
GB - 1.93
GEN - 1.89

1996
PS1 - 1.99
N64 - 1.97
GB - 1.68

1997
PS1 - 5.05
N64 - 4.49
GB - 2.10

1998
PS1 - 7.11
N64 - 4.14
GB - 1.92

1999
GBC - 6.45
PS1 - 5.84
N64 - 3.54

2000
GBC - 6.82
PS1 - 3.25
N64 - 2.53

2001
PS2 - 6.18
GBA - 4.75
GBC - 2.95

2002
PS2 - 8.39
GBA - 6.94
XB - 3.17

2003
GBA - 7.78
PS2 - 6.31
GCN - 3.27

2004
GBA - 7.08
PS2 - 4.68
XB - 4.01

2005
PS2 - 5.51
GBA - 4.37
PSP - 3.63

2006
NDS - 5.32
PS2 - 4.84
X360 - 3.90

2007
NDS - 8.43
Wii - 6.29
X360 - 4.62

2008
Wii - 10.17
NDS - 9.95
X360 - 4.74

2009
NDS - 11.19
Wii - 9.59
X360 - 4.77

2010
NDS - 8.58
Wii - 7.07
X360 - 6.76

2011
X360 - 7.28
Wii - 4.53
PS3 - 4.52

2012
X360 - 5.30
3DS - 3.63
PS3 - 3.41

2013
3DS - 3.81
X360 - 3.07
PS3 - 2.18

2014
PS4 - 4.68
XBO - 4.37
3DS - 2.57

2015
PS4 - 5.72
XBO - 4.93
3DS - 2.40

2016
PS4 - 5.10
XBO - 4.73
3DS - 2.49

2017
PS4 - 5.42
NSW - 4.87
XBO - 4.28

2018
NSW - 5.64
PS4 - 5.29
XBO - 4.36

2019
NSW - 6.48
PS4 - 3.83
XBO - 3.04

2020
NSW - 8.98
PS4 - 2.07
PS5 - 1.96

2021
NSW - 7.61
PS5 - 4.28
XBS - 3.73

2022
NSW - 5.83
PS5 - 5.66
XBS - 4.48

2023
PS5 - 6.83*
NSW - 4.80*
XBS - 3.88*
 
Last edited:
ILikeFeet said:
doesn't mean shit if people just want Mario
Click to expand...
Not always, Mario hardly dethroned Pokémon on 3DS eShop top sellers lists, as Nintendo pushed Pokémon much harder. It's all about marketing, if Nintendo pours tens of million to Star Fox marketing, you'll it in the top 10. They are SO good at marketing.
 
ILikeFeet said:
doesn't mean shit if people just want Mario
Click to expand...
the casuals will be only wanting to play a short game of racing or partying with mario at a friend's house or after work. the hardcore players be spending hundreds of hours grinding that exp with noah & mio or mastering their strategy skills with byleth
 
0
9-Volt said:
Not always, Mario hardly dethroned Pokémon on 3DS eShop top sellers lists, as Nintendo pushed Pokémon much harder. It's all about marketing, if Nintendo pours tens of million to Star Fox marketing, you'll it in the top 10. They are SO good at marketing.
Click to expand...
yea, nah. they can't force it, no matter how hard they try. and other companies really tried to spend their way to sales. ironically, it worked for one game I have in mind. that game doesn't exist anymore (Anthem)
 
9-Volt said:
Not always, Mario hardly dethroned Pokémon on 3DS eShop top sellers lists, as Nintendo pushed Pokémon much harder. It's all about marketing, if Nintendo pours tens of million to Star Fox marketing, you'll it in the top 10. They are SO good at marketing.
Click to expand...
Star Fox fans

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ILikeFeet said:
yea, nah. they can't force it, no matter how hard they try. and other companies really tried to spend their way to sales. ironically, it worked for one game I have in mind. that game doesn't exist anymore (Anthem)
Click to expand...
Well, of course, the pushed game needs to be good. A bad game cannot move an inch no matter how you push it. People actually care for quality, their care once sunk the game industry. Lucky for Nintendo, they don't do bad games.
 
0
9-Volt said:
Good god, 6 games out of top 10 of Switch in 2024 has Mario in it. Do not like it a bit, this is just way too much. Nintendo needs to push other series with the same monster marketing Mario receives atm.
Click to expand...
two of them are brand new games for the year. smash, kart and party are evergreens so idk what you expected, but they literally did what you're saying for Zelda and it's #1, arguably their most popular franchise right now.
 
Christo750 said:
kart and party are evergreens so idk what you expected, but they literally did for Zelda and it's #1, arguably their most popular franchise right now.
Click to expand...
Party has never sold THAT good before, some of the entries were basically failures (poor MP9). Nintendo's spectacular push for MP this gen put it there. Total of 30 million MP games sold on Switch, comparison to the closest: Almost triple of MP8+MP9 on Wii (11m)
 
9-Volt said:
Party has never sold THAT good before, some of the entries were basically failures (poor MP9). Nintendo's spectacular push for MP this gen put it there. Total of 30 million MP games sold on Switch, comparison to the closest: Almost triple of MP8+MP9 on Wii (11m)
Click to expand...
MP9 came out the Wii's last year on the market when the userbase was dead. they didn't really push anything more than they've pushed mario party before, the Switch is just a different ecosystem.

i mean nothing has ever sold this good before. any sales threads i struggle to really compare to sales history because of it. basically any sales comparisons to now from 2000s and 90s shouldn't be, IMO. the landscape is just different.

like PIKMIN 4, with digital, is more than the Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope number. more than likely more than even the Minecraft number or half of the first-party evergreens, and it got plenty of marketing. Mario also just had a billion dollar movie this year. not sure what you expected; this is a Mario-heavy year but there are plenty of other things getting success.
 
If this is a December high for Xbox and it is STILL in third in it's strongest market uhhhhh things aren't looking good
 
0
Wow Super Mario RPG did better than I would anticipate for a revenue-based chart

North America showed up for Mallow and Geno. Get that shine bois!

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