The video game industry avoided its 12th straight month of revenue declines after the latest October numbers came in at $4.71 billion in total consumer spending — equal to the previous-year period, according to The NPD Group.
The savior? Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The latest release in the lucrative “Call of Duty” franchise helped up game software sales 2% to $3.7 billion, from $3.62 billion a year ago. Hardware sales dropped 10% to $424 million, from $468.8 million a year earlier, while accessory revenue declined 8% to $148 million, from $160.8 million.
The top-selling video game console was Sony’s PlayStation 5, while the PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller Midnight Black was the top-selling accessory.
Through 10 months of the year, total consumer video game spending was down 7% to $42.7 billion, from $45.9 billion. Console revenue dipped 2% to $3.8 billion, from $3.87 billion, while accessory revenue dropped 12% to $1.72 billion, from $1.95 billion. Game software sales dropped 8% to $37.19 billion, from $40.4 billion.