Down 3% when compared to the $2.97 billion spent on video game content in the United States during the second quarter of 2012, the second quarter of 2013 (April – June) saw sales of $2.88 billion, according to a report by the NPD. When you add together spending from accessories, hardware, and total content, it actually went down 9%, which they contribute to the decline in hardware sales as we draw nearer to the PS4 launch on November 15th and Xbox One on November 22nd in the US.
For a breakdown, $769 million was spent on new game software (including PC), $343 million was spent on other physical forms of content (used and rental), and digital content accounted for $1.77 billion.
Liam Callahan, Industry Analyst at The NPD Group, had this to say about the sales totals:
The decrease in new physical spending is partly due to the decline in the number of new SKU’s released at retail, (with 37% fewer new SKUs in Q2 2013 compared to Q2 2012) which is to be expected as developers, publishers and consumers alike prepare for the next hardware generation. Increases in digital format spending offset nearly all the losses from the declines in physical format spending, with digital full game downloads and downloadable content spending experiencing a combined 27 percent increase (when compared to Q2’12). Spending increases occurred across both video games and PC games in the digital format.
How much money did you spend in Q2 2013? Let us know in the comments below.
