With just $10.9 billion spent on video games in the first quarter of 2020, the United States has hit a brand-new record for quarterly video game sales. This new record is 9% higher than it was last year, which is a pretty significant increase. That quarter covered January to March, with the current quarter ending on June 30th. It is very likely that video game spending will be up even higher this quarter.
Of course, it’s not hard to imagine why video game spending has been up lately. While it’s only speculation and can’t truly be proven, the Coronavirus outbreak and following pandemic confined a lot of people to their homes. With some looking to find ways to stay active during quarantine and others just searching for a means of entertainment with no way to go outside, many people turned to games and the Nintendo Switch especially to meet these needs and desires.
According to NPD, $9.6 of the $10.9 billion figure from last quarter was made of game sales and in-game microtransactions. Apparently, some of the top titles “included Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Doom Eternal, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, MLB The Show 20 and NBA 2K20.”
As far as consoles, Nintendo took the lead with ease, selling so well that they managed to compensate for the decline in console sales from both Xbox and PlayStation. In just hardware sales alone, Nintendo made $770 million. Even now, Switches are super difficult to come by because they have been selling so well, and as for Microsoft and Sony, few people have been buying their consoles since the next generation of them is coming around in just about half a year.
In a way, the pandemic has really boosted sales in the video game market, even though it has caused such problems for everyone. Chances are that video game sales may slow once the pandemic situation has well and truly passed, and when people will have more cause to go outside and less of a reason to stay inside and keep themselves entertained.
As said above, if you’re looking for a Nintendo Switch yourself, now is a particularly difficult time to find one. They’re being bought out so quickly, and they haven’t been adequately restocked by Nintendo in some time, though they are trying to rectify that situation. You can find a Switch on third-party websites like Amazon or eBay, but the people selling them there are asking for much higher than the standard price of such a Switch.
On the other hand, finding the Nintendo Switch Lite is much easier, and it is a less expensive option anyway. The only downfall of the Lite is that it can’t be plugged into a TV, but that’s a small price to pay in order for you to actually get your hands on one of these elusive consoles.
