Video game spending reached $9.1 billion in the US during third quarter - NPD

Folks are spending plenty of money on games.

During the third quarter of this year, consumers spent $9.1 billion which is up 24% year-over-year.

From July to September, content sales increased 25% to $7.9 billion. All content categories, which include full-game, DLC, microtransations, subscriptions, and mobile saw increases. Mobile games and digital content for console and portable platforms experienced the most growth.

NPD said software titles which had the "most impact on dollar sales" during the period were: Candy Crush Saga, Fortnite, Madden NFL 19, Marvel's Spider-Man and NBA 2K19.

Hardware sales were up 11% to $737 million year-over-year, led by Xbox One, PS4 and devices such as Nintendo's NES Classic and SNES Classic.

“The Video Game market in the U.S. continues to thrive with compelling gaming content expanding the market, driving higher spending of hardware, accessory and software,” said Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group.

“And with the sales strength of recent releases such as Marvel's Spider-Man and NBA 2K19, combined with cross-platform titles such as Fortnite, there appears to be no slowing down as we head into the final stretch of the holiday shopping season.”

Accessory sales were up 44% percent with headset and game card sales setting all-time records. Game cards sales reached a record high, growing 63% to surpass accessories for the first time during a Q3 in a calendar year.