Game On: U.S. video game spending grew 10% in October, says Circana

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

U.S. OCTOBER SALES: Last week, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella (MSFT) “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” in October, as compared to the launch of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” during the November tracking period a year ago. Video game content spending increased by 12% versus a year ago, reaching $4.2B. Console content was the biggest contributor to the overall gain, with a spending increase of 27% when compared to a year ago, fueled by console digital full game sales. Non-mobile video game subscription spending increased by 16% when compared to a year ago.

The release of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” as part of Xbox Game Pass was the primary growth driver. “Black Ops 6” was October’s best-selling video game, debuting as the #3 best-selling game of 2024 YTD. Over each title’s first two weeks in market, full game dollar sales of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” were 23% higher than “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” a year ago. PlayStation (SONY) platforms accounted for 82% of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” total console full game dollar sales volume during the October tracking period.

Meanwhile, video game hardware spending dropped 23% in October when compared to a year ago. Switch (NTDOY) dollar sales fell 38% year-on-year during October, while PS5 declined by 20% and Xbox Series showed an 18% decrease. PlayStation 5 was once again the best-selling hardware platform in both unit and dollar sales for the month, with Xbox Series ranking 2nd across both measures.

Other top-selling games in the U.S. for the month of October were Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) “Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero,” Konami’s (KONMY) “Silent Hill 2,” Plaion’s “Undisputed,” Sega’s (SGAMY) “Metaphor: ReFantazio,” Electronic Arts’ (EA) “Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” and Nintendo’s “Super Mario Party Jamboree.”

EUROPE OCTOBER SALES: 18.5M video game units were purchased across Europe during the month of October, marking an increase of 12.4% compared with the same five-week period in 2023, Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring (WBD) “Hogwarts Legacy,” Nintendo’s “Super Mario Party Jamboree,” and Konami’s “Silent Hill 2.

NEW SONY HANDHELD: Sony is in the early stages of creating a portable gaming console that would play its PlayStation 5 titles on the go, Bloomberg’s Debby Wu and Takashi Mochizuki reported earlier this week. The handheld would be designed to expand the company’s reach and compete with Japanese rival Nintendo for the portable gaming market, the authors said, citing people familiar with the product’s development. It would also counter any possible mobile device from Microsoft, which is working on handheld prototypes as well, the authors added, noting the Sony device is likely years away from launch.

ROBLOX PROBES: A new Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, response from the SEC confirmed that its Division of Enforcement has engaged in “investigative matters” related to Roblox (RBLX) in “a complete reversal from August,” when the SEC said it had no records on Roblox in a response to an earlier FOIA request, according to Hunterbrook Media, which noted that based on its reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short Roblox at the time of publication. Additionally, the FTC revealed in a response to a FOIA request that it has “9,237 pages of responsive records” related to Roblox, and declined to share additional information by citing a FOIA exemption for disclosures that may interfere with law enforcement investigations, according to Hunterbrook, which contends “Roblox has not disclosed either probe – and may be unaware of the fact that they were opened.”

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Roblox as measured by TipRanks.

MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:

• Square Enix’s (SQNXF) “Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake” topped the Japan sales charts in its first week, according to Famitsu
• CD Projekt (OTGLY) said it has “no plans” currently for a PlayStation 5 Pro patch for “Cyberpunk 2077”
• Microsoft said that Xbox Game Pass subscribers can launch window records for total players, hours played, and total matches played
• Meanwhile, Circana’s Piscatella said that “Black Ops 6” being added to Xbox Game Pass on day one shifted the share of full game sales to PlayStation consoles, but also did not appear to result in sales cannibalization or provide a significant boost to Xbox Series hardware sales