That’s right, it’s the final U.S. sales recap of 2023. A bit late, but here we are!
Earlier this month, Circana announced its December and full-year 2023 report on domestic games industry consumer spending. Both respective time frames showed slight growth, thus ending a shaky 12 months on a positive note.
Within the December holiday month, total sales rose a healthy 4% to $7.9 billion. Which means that overall, U.S. consumers spent more than $57 billion across gaming last year, an increase of 1% compared to 2022.
Two segments in Content and Accessories each moved up in the single digits during the year while Hardware output remained virtually flat.
On the premium software side, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did secure the top spot in December, it couldn’t quite sell enough to outpace what ended 2023 as the year’s top seller: Hogwarts Legacy.
This win for Warner Bros marks the first time since Rock Band in 2008 that a game not in Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty shooter franchise or made by Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games led the yearly list. An exceptional, and mostly unexpected until right up until the final month, result.
A huge portion of the Content category is dictated by mobile where Monopoly Go became the big earner for both December and the year as a whole.
Elsewhere, Sony’s PlayStation 5 generated better supply throughout the year and saw consistent demand plus boasted a system-seller in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, accelerating the family of consoles to best seller for December and 2023 when measured by both unit sales and dollar revenue.
“A 13% increase in spending on digital premium downloads on console platforms helped offset declines in physical software spending,” wrote Circana’s Mat Piscatella when talking about the year overall. “Growth in PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales helped offset declines across both Xbox Series and Switch.”
No more time to waste. Read on for my full rundown, numbers and all, then a look ahead to 2024!
United States Games Industry Sales (November 26th to December 30th, 2023)
Across all of gaming during the holiday month, spending rose 4% to $7.91 billion. 2023 sales eclipsed $57.19 billion, up 1%. The largest contributor to growth was full game digital on consoles, highlighting the continued buyer shift towards downloads rather than retail purchases.
The biggest category of Content rose 3% in December to $5.73 billion, or 72% of the total which is slightly below the 73% a year ago. In aggregate across all of 2023, it moved up 1% to $47.97 billion. That’s an 84% contribution, same as 2022.
Mobile generated yet another month of gains, this time seeing spending increase 2.7% over the same time last year. All of the Top 10 earners experienced higher contributions than they did during November. December’s leading games were, in order of revenue, Monopoly Go, Royal Match, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans.
The report wasn’t specific about mobile’s contribution to the total 12 month period, however it did outline 2023’s Top 10 games by sales, which I’ve listed in full later in the article. Scopely’s Monopoly Go was the winner, followed by Candy Crush Saga and Roblox.
December’s premium software ranks showcased a number of familiar titles that launched in or before the month, with the only new game being Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora debuting in the 6th spot. Which I’d call quite a good start for the year’s last major AAA release.
As expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the holiday month’s best seller. Next up was Super Mario Bros. Wonder moving up a few spots to 2nd, even without digital sales counted. It’s yet another fantastic showing for Nintendo, just ahead of Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 24 rounding out the Top 3 as the football season entered its home stretch.
Expanding to 2023 as a whole, winner Hogwarts Legacy was the predominant sales story both domestically and around the globe. In addition to leading the annual U.S. chart, publisher Warner Bros claimed it was the world’s best-selling premium game. It generated well over a billion dollars in its first three months, moved 2 million copies globally in December alone and ending the year at 22 million. It’s now above 24 million.
Activision Blizzard claimed three titles in the Top 7, including two Call of Duty iterations in addition to Diablo IV. While technically a down year for the latest Call of Duty installment, this outcome shows the franchise is still among the top commercial successes, plus reveals that players didn’t need to move to the latest version in order to spend big money.
After Madden NFL 24 in third, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, both platform exclusives, rounded out the year’s Top 5. Which makes sense for Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man sequel after its record-breaking start. This was especially impressive for Tears of the Kingdom since it’s based solely on retail. That’s right, it was among the year’s five best sellers considering only boxes sold in stores. When these days digital often accounts for half of a title’s units, if not more, this was a momentous feat for Nintendo.
Another fantastic trend was the commercial success of fighting games as both Mortal Kombat 1 from Warner Bros and Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 charted at #8 and #17 respectively. On the Xbox side, Bethesda’s Starfield, while being on Game Pass and seeing a somewhat soured sentiment since the September launch, landed just outside the Top 10 in 11th place.
In addition to the charts based on revenue, Circana shared the most played games of December by Monthly Active Users (MAUs) from each major platform. Fortnite, Call of Duty and, of course, Grand Theft Auto V led on PlayStation and Xbox while Lethal Company, The Finals and Counter-Strike Go 2 saw the biggest engagement on Steam. Huge movers into the Top 10 included PowerWash Simulator at #9 on PlayStation and Goat Simulator at #7 on Xbox. Apparently, lots of people like doing chores or acting a fool in their spare time!
Check below for December and 2023 best seller lists, including the annual Top 10 mobile earners.
Top-Selling Premium Games of December 2023, U.S. (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
- Madden NFL 24
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- EA Sports FC 24
- Mortal Kombat 1
- NBA 2K24*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Super Mario RPG Remake*
- Sonic Superstars
- Minecraft
- God of War Ragnarök
- Star Wars Jedi Survivor
- Elden Ring
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
- Just Dance 2024 Edition
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- UFC 5
Top-Selling Premium Games of 2023, U.S. (Physical & Digital Dollar Sales):
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Madden NFL 24
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
- Diablo IV
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Star Wars Jedi Survivor
- EA Sports FC 24
- Starfield
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder*
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- MLB The Show 23^
- Dead Island 2
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Street Fighter 6
- Elden Ring
- Mario Kart 8*
- Minecraft
Top-Selling Mobile Games of 2023, U.S. (Revenue):
- Monopoly Go
- Candy Crush Saga
- Roblox
- Royal Match
- Coin Master
- Pokémon Go
- Gardenscapes
- Jackpot Party Casino Slots
- Township
- Evony
Swapping over to the Hardware category, this one gained 4% in December to almost $1.6 billion.
Circana’s report pointed out that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S generated revenue growth during the final month of 2023, while Nintendo Switch saw a double-digit percentage decline. That’s good news for Microsoft’s platform, even if it was spurred on by temporary price reductions. The last part there for Nintendo was mostly anticipated for the aging device, which is long past market saturation.
There’s no indication if the growth for either PlayStation or Xbox was in the double digits, however I’d imagine it was in the single digits since the report probably would have said so otherwise.
Topping the hardware list for December by units and dollars was, yet again, Sony’s PlayStation 5. I believe it won every month of 2023 except for May, when Nintendo Switch led on the heels of Tears of the Kingdom’s launch. In fact, Sony as a manufacturer generated a single month dollar sales all-time high in December, outpacing the prior record holder of December 2022.
Intriguingly, Nintendo Switch secured second place in December by units and revenue despite Xbox’s growth and the below comment from Circana.
“Xbox Series X|S set a new lifetime high in U.S. unit sales during the month of December,” Piscatella said on social media, documenting a new milestone for Microsoft’s latest console family. “The previous unit sales high for Xbox Series X|S was set in December 2021.”
After spending most of the year in the red, the Hardware segment’s solid holiday result moved it up to flat for the year at $6.59 billion in consumer buying.
PlayStation 5 topped the annual list by units and dollars. In fact, it was the only platform that gained ground when compared to 2022. Nintendo Switch was again the runner-up by both measures, as both Switch and Xbox Series X|S experienced declining annual sales.
Fitting with the general theme I’ve outlined in these write-ups before, 2023 was a banner year for PlayStation while Xbox maintained its inconsistency, although the latter did have certain bright spots in Starfield’s launch in September and holiday sales when discounted.
Accessories is up next, the final and fastest-growing of the three categories during both the holiday and 2023 overall.
During December, spending in this area rose 14% to $584 million. That’s a super healthy boost during the final month as people who purchases new generation consoles are now scooping up peripherals, including special editions and high-end controllers.
United States buyers purchased $2.64 billion accessories during the year, an increase of 4%. The report shouted out growth from game pads in particular.
Fitting that theme, Sony’s PlayStation 5 Dual Sense Edge was the top-earning accessory of 2023, after the premium pad won most months. Its continued momentum shows there’s ample demand for premium priced peripherals as the console cycle matures.
From a domestic spend perspective, 2023 was the definition of up and down, at least compared to the prior year. Exactly half of the twelve months showed spending growth, while all others saw lower sales than their 2022 counterparts. Only two months, May and September, produced double-digit gains.
There was a distinct lack of consistency, even with blockbuster launches and Sony’s concerted effort to produce more PlayStations. A return to hardware supply helped, as did mobile’s better contribution. Still, Nintendo Switch is long in the tooth, subscriptions are stagnant and the most recent Call of Duty installment under-performed.
“Subscription growth has flattened,” Piscatella wrote on Twitter. “And subscription services on console and PC platforms accounts for only 10% of total video game content spending in the U.S.”
In a broader historical sense, over a timeline including before COVID, it was still one of the best years of consumer spending in tracked history. Unfortunately, spending remains in stark comparison to the games industry labor market, which suffered a record number of layoffs globally in 2023 and is only accelerating early this year.
Speaking of 2024, it’s now time for my official predictions. I wrote a whole article with my expectations across the global industry, so here I’ll focus on solely what I expect from the domestic Circana reports before signing off.
In general for spending and where it’s going, I’m leaning towards keeping with my global prediction in that I expect the year to be close to flat with slight upside in the low single digits. That does include my assumption that Nintendo will in fact launch a Switch successor in the final calendar quarter.
Premium software is somewhat tricky considering the release slate is up in the air, especially for PlayStation and Nintendo. I think the rumored Call of Duty: Black Ops Gulf War will bring the franchise back to best seller status.
Beyond the sports games that will always appear, Star Wars Outlaws from Ubisoft will compete for a Top 5 spot if it’s out, as will a mainline Super Mario assuming it launches with Super Switch. Final Fantasy VI Rebirth has a good chance at Top 10 even on a single platform, and Tekken 8 will have a strong showing in the Top 15. I’m not expecting Marvel’s Wolverine to be out and don’t know what the heck to think about Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, so I’ll say that one misses the Top 20. Just like Skull & Bones.
Hardware will be a juicy category. It’s almost a lock that Super Switch will be out in the back half. I’m on record saying I think adoption will start a tad slower than the original, then pick up over time. Considering Sony’s push to produce PlayStation 5 to make up for lost time during the pandemic, and its at least six to eight month head start, my bet is PlayStation 5 will take home hardware for 2023 with Nintendo as a close second, especially on units.
And, of course, I couldn’t leave without mentioning Palworld! I believe January’s big sales surprise, moving 8 million copies on Steam and topping the Xbox Game Pass list during its debut week, will be among 2024’s most-played titles. Especially if it leaves early access and launches on PlayStation.
That’s officially it for 2023. I highly recommend checking out Piscatella’s Twitter thread for the full Circana report, including individual platform charts and more engagement stats.
Be well, and see you soon for more this year!
Note: Comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.
*Digital Sales Not Included
^Xbox & Nintendo Digital Sales Not Included
Sources: Circana, Warner Bros.
-Dom