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United States video game spending in January 2021 up 42% YoY

The NPD is reporting that US citizens spent 42% more on video games in January 2021 over the previous year.

Donovan Erskine

February 12, 2021 9:55 AM

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It’s been nearly a year since the COVID-19 became a serious issue in the United States, closing down business, events, and forcing millions to shelter at home. In that time, many of us have turned to video games to occupy our minds and take up the extended free time. We’ve now got numbers that show just how popular video games have been over the last year, as NPD has reported its yearly statistics. According to the company, US citizens spent 42% more on games in January 2021 over January 2020.

The NPD has reported that the United States spent $4.71 billion on games in January 2021. Of course, these numbers were strongly bolstered by the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, as hardware saw a 144% increase year over year. Despite approaching its fourth birthday, the Nintendo Switch has also continued to see impressive sales numbers.

Jan 2021 US NPD THREAD - January 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories achieved a January record $4.7B, 42% higher when compared to a year ago. Gains were achieved across all spending categories. pic.twitter.com/SMfkfScsMs

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) February 12, 2021

As for the games themselves, a lot of the usual suspects makeup the best-selling titles of January. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War sat at number one, with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Madden 21, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons not too far behind. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was also one of the best-selling titles last month. We recently heard Sony confirm that the game had sold over 4.1 million units.

One of the biggest stories here is Cyberpunk 2077’s fall from the number two game in December, to the 18th best-selling title in January. Of course, this is primarily due to the severe bugs and glitches that hindered the game at launch, rendering it unplayable for some on older consoles. The game was even removed from PSN, and still hasn’t returned to the digital store.

For more statistics and analysis of the business side of the gaming world, stay right here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_