During the coronavirus lockdowns, myriads of people have looked to video games for an escape, including many that had previously felt little interest in gaming. This has led to a major impact on sales of the Nintendo Switch, but it’s also impacted the video game industry as a whole.
According to a report from the NPD group, the U.S. has never previously spent as much on video game products during a quarter as they did between January and March of 2020, spending a stunning $10.86 billion during that time. This is a 9% increase from last year’s first quarter, with a whopping $9.58 billion of the total being spent solely on games.
The report notes that the top selling games of the quarter included Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and DOOM Eternal, among others. This is no small feat for New Horizons, as it released towards the end of March, but it’s in keeping with how Nintendo previously revealed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fastest-selling Switch game ever.
Although these numbers are truly impressive and show how much games can help to escape situations like being stuck in one’s home, the next quarter’s numbers may go even farther. The coronavirus lockdowns had barely gotten started by the end of the first quarter, so it will be interesting to see if Q2 quickly leaves this record behind.
Source: NPD
