- Videogame sales leapt 73% to an October record, with gains in all categories as a pair of heavily awaited software titles gave the holiday season a jump start.
- It was the seventh straight month of Y/Y gains for the sales numbers.
- Overall sales rose 73% to $1.545B, according to NPD Group. That's the highest October spend recorded since NPD began tracking in 1995, surpassing the $1.36B in October 2008.
- Hardware rose 26% to $300M, accessories gained 54% to $280M, and software more than doubled to $965M. Year-to-date overall sales are up 21%, to $10.5B (highest since the January-October period in 2010).
- Hardware was paced by growth in PlayStation 4 (NYSE:SNE) and Xbox One (NASDAQ:MSFT) with declines elsewhere. PS4 was the best-selling platform in units and dollars. And in accessories, spending on headsets and headphones doubled Y/Y (led by Turtle Beach (NASDAQ:HEAR)), while gamepad spending was up 63%, analyst Mat Piscatella notes.
- Software's all-time high was led by the stellar launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (NASDAQ:ATVI), which immediately becomes the year's best-selling game. Meanwhile, with just nine days of sales, Red Dead Redemption 2 (NASDAQ:TTWO) slotted into second and became the No. 2 best-seller YTD. Those were followed up by a strong holdover at No. 3 by Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (OTCPK:UBSFY).
- Rounding out the software top 10: No. 4, NBA 2K19 (TTWO); No. 5, Super Mario Party (OTCPK:NTDOY); No. 6, Soul Calibur VI (OTC:NCBDY); No. 7, FIFA 19 (NASDAQ:EA); No. 8, Marvel's Spider-Man (SNE); No. 9, Madden NFL 19 (EA); No. 10, WWE 2K19 (TTWO).
- Related tickers: OTCPK:CCOEY. Retail stock: GME +1.7% after hours.
- ETFs: GAMR, ESPO
- Now read: GameStop Must Eliminate Its Dividend Or Suffer Blockbuster's Fate
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