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Consumer spending in games continues to trend downward from last year, according to industry tracking company The NPD Group. While subscription spending is showing signs of growth, this was not enough to offset the 11% decline in hardware, content and accessories spending.
| June 2022 Dollar Sales, Millions | June 2021 | June 2022 | Change |
| Total video game sales | $4,878 | $4,335 | -11% |
| Video game content (physical and digital full game, DLC/MTX and consumer releases for subscriptions on console, cloud, mobile*, wearable, PC and VR platforms) | $4,271 | $3,789 | -11% |
| Video game hardware | $401 | $371 | -8% |
| Video Game Accessories | $206 | $176 | -15% |
“In June 2022, consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories fell 11% from a year ago to $4.3 billion,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “The growth in subscription spending failed to offset declines in other areas of content spending, while hardware and accessories spending also declined.” The PlayStation 5 generated the highest dollar sales of all platforms in both June and the first half of 2022. The Nintendo Switch led both in terms of unit sales.
According to data from Sensor Tower, the mobile market is also declining slightly, albeit less than in May: it fell 10.7% in June, compared to 12.6% in May. Sensor Tower speculates that the slower decline could be due to the launch of Diablo Immortal, which ranked in the top 10 sales charts in both stores. Google Play showed the most decline, while the App Store showed small positive year-over-year growth.
| Year-to-date 2022 dollars in revenue, millions | YTD 2021 | YTD 2022 | Change |
| Total video game sales | $29,287 | $26,273 | -10% |
| Video game content (physical and digital full game, DLC/MTX and consumer releases for subscriptions on console, cloud, mobile*, wearable, PC and VR platforms) | $25,720 | $23,093 | -10% |
| Video game hardware | $2,345 | $2,310 | -9% |
| Video Game Accessories | $1,222 | $1,050 | -14% |
Piscatella added, “H1 spend totaled $26.3 billion, a 10% shortfall compared to the same period in 2021. Subscription content is the only major spend category that has seen spending growth.”
June 2022 NPD: Top 20 Best Selling Games of the Month in the US
NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but also gets digital data directly from publishers. Not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales and Activision Blizzard doesn’t deliver its Battle.net sales.
These charts are sorted by dollar sales – not number of units sold. And this is for full game sales and does not include in-game expenses.
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | NEW ONES | Mario Strikers: Battle League* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 5 | MLB: The Show 22^ | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 5 | 57 | overwatch | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 6 | 8 | Mario Kart 8 * | Nintendo |
| 7 | 3 | Nintendo Switch Sports* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 6 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 159 | Final Fantasy VII: Remake | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 10 | 11 | Minecraft | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 11 | 7 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 12 | NEW ONES | F1 22 | Electronic art |
| 13 | 30 | Monster Hunter: Rise | Capcom USA |
| 14 | 56 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hinokami Chronicles | Sega |
| 15 | 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 16 | NEW ONES | Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes* | Nintendo |
| 17 | NEW ONES | Sonic Origins | Sega |
| 18 | 10 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 19 | NEW ONES | The quarry* | Take Two Interactive |
| 20 | 28 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (company) |
| *Digital sales not included ^Xbox & Switch digital sales not included |
No surprise, Elden Ring and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga continue to dominate the charts. According to Piscatella, “Elden Ring is in the top 10 best-selling premium games of all time in the US market (dollar sales).”
New games in the charts
One of the interesting quirks of this month, as opposed to the previous months, is how many new games made it to the top 20 this month. While the April and May charts were mostly made up of previously released titles, five new games made it to the top in June, the highest since March. This is probably due to the number of interesting new releases, which is arguably higher than it was this month. The best-selling new release is Mario Strikers: Battle League, followed by F1 22, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Sonic Origins, and The Quarry.
Peak of interest in older titles
The other interesting thing about the June charts is the number of games in the top 20 that were previously much lower. For example, Final Fantasy VII: Remake previously ranked 159th, but has risen to 9th place this month. This is likely due to the sequel’s announcement, among other promotional events in June to celebrate the original game’s 25th anniversary. According to Piscatella, Final Fantasy VII: Remake last made the top 20 in May 2020. Other games have just returned to the charts, including Overwatch (from 59th to 5th place), following new details about the sequel; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hinokami Chronicles (56th to 14th place), which received a Switch release, and Monster Hunter: Rise (30th to 13th place), after the launch of the Sunbreak expansion.
June 2022 NPD: 20 best-selling games of 2022 so far
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | 3 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 4 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| 5 | 5 | MLB: The Show 22^ | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 6 | 6 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 7 | 7 | Grand Touring 7 | Sony (company) |
| 8 | 8 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land* | Nintendo |
| 9 | 9 | Mario Kart 8 * | Nintendo |
| 10 | 10 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic art |
| 11 | 13 | Nintendo Switch Sports* | Nintendo |
| 12 | 12 | Minecraft | Multiple video game manufacturers |
| 13 | 11 | FIFA 22 | Electronic art |
| 14 | 14 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (company) |
| 15 | 15 | Monster Hunter: Rise | Capcom USA |
| 16 | 17 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 17 | 19 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 18 | 18 | Mario Party Superstars* | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* |
| 19 | 20 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 20 | 16 | Dying Light 2: Stay Human* | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| *Digital sales not included ^Xbox & Switch digital sales not included |
June 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling games of the past 12 months
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
All platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 3 | 3 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic art |
| 4 | 4 | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 5 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 6 | 6 | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic art |
| 7 | 7 | FIFA 22 | Electronic art |
| 8 | 8 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 9 | 9 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 11 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| *Digital sales not included |
June 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling Nintendo Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Nintendo platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW ONES | Mario Strikers: Battle League* | Nintendo |
| 2 | 4 | Mario Kart 8 * | Nintendo |
| 3 | 1 | Nintendo Switch Sports* | Nintendo |
| 4 | 2 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 7 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 6 | NEW ONES | Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 5 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 3 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 9 | 6 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 10 | NEW ONES | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hinokami Chronicles | Sega |
| *Digital sales not included |
June 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling PlayStation Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
PlayStation platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 2 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 1 | MLB: The Show 22 | Sony (company) |
| 3 | 4 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 4 | 8 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (company) |
| 5 | 6 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (company) |
| 6 | NEW ONES | The quarry* | Take Two Interactive (Corp) |
| 7 | 57 | overwatch | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 8 | 18 | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | Sony (company) |
| 9 | 7 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 10 | 5 | Grand Touring 7 | Sony (company) |
| *Digital sales not included |
May 2022 NPD: Top 10 Bestselling Xbox Platform Games in the US
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Xbox platforms | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| 3 | 17 | overwatch | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 4 | NEW ONES | F1 22 | Electronic art |
| 5 | 4 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 6 | 13 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 7 | 5 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 8 | 7 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 9 | 8 | Call of Duty: Black Ops III | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 10 | 9 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (company) |
| *Digital sales not included |
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