Starfield was the best-selling game of September 2023 in the US - Game Pass or no Game Pass
Starfield tops the chart.
The September 2023 industry report is in from Circana (formerly NPD), and according to the data, the best-selling game for the month in the US was Starfield.
Released on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S, the PC version was its lead sales platform (Is it because most Xbox players acquired the game through Game Pass? It's possible. - SNJ). With its release, Starfield is now the seventh best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date.
In other software news, Mortal Kombat 1 debuted as the second best-selling game of September, and it is currently the eighth best-selling game of 2023. It sold the most on PlayStation, tied for second on PC and Xbox, and third on Nintendo Switch, according to Circana's Mat Piscatella.
The third best-selling game of the month was EA Sports FC 24, followed by Madden NFL 24 in fourth and Payday 3 in fifth. Rounding out the top ten on the best-sellers chart were NBA 2K24, The Crew: Motorfest, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Hogwarts Legacy, and Modern Warfare 3, respectively.
For September 2023, video game content sales increased 13% year-over-year (yoy) to $3.8 billion, a figure attributed to digital premium download spending across console and PC driving most of the gains. Subscription spending fell 2% for the month.
In hardware, spending fell 8% yoy to $451 million, and Xbox Series consoles saw a single-digit percentage growth offset by declines across PlayStation 5 and Switch.
For September 2023, PlayStation 5 was once again the best-selling console of the month in unit and dollar sales, with Xbox Series consoles taking second in unit and dollar sales. PlayStation 5 remains the best-selling console for the year in both unit and dollar sales.
Spending on accessories increased 11% yoy to $197 million, with controller spending up by 15% yoy. The PS5 Dual Sense Wireless Controller – Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition was the best-selling accessory of the month. Racing Controller spending grew by 18%.
As a whole, consumer spending on video game content, hardware, and accessories in September 2023 grew 10% yoy to $4.5 billion, with spending on video game content and accessories offsetting an 8% decline in hardware sales