Video Games Set a Record for Quarterly Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Americans stuck at home have flocked in droves to video gaming, sending sales to a quarterly record.

U.S. consumer spending on video games jumped to $10.9 billion in the first quarter, up 9% from a year earlier, research firm NPD Group said in a report released Friday.

Game content reaped the lion’s share of the spending, $9.6 billion, up 11% year-over-year, NPD said. 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, according to the firm.

Sales gains for Nintendo Co.’s Switch console offset declines for other platforms, NPD said, sending game-hardware sales up 2% to $773 million. Accessory sales rose 1% to $503 million.

At-home entertainment has been one of the few economic bright spots during the coronavirus pandemic. Video-game companies have bucked the broader stock-market decline, with Activision Blizzard Inc. up 23% this year through Thursday, Electronic Arts Inc. up 8.9% and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. up 7.4%. That compares with a 12% drop for the S&P 500 index.

Besides gaming, streaming-video services such as Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ have seen robust increases in subscribers.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.