Console US Spending Declines; Ghost of Tsushima Resurgence Validates Sony’s PC Strategy

Hardware spending in the US declined by 40% in May on a year-on-year comparison, according to Circana (formerly NPD). This includes popular consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. The main culprit is the tough comparison with May 2023, which saw the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a masterpiece and massive commercial success for Nintendo that drove lots of sales of Switch hardware.

This May, Sony's PlayStation comes out on top. Ghost of Tsushima was the best-seller in May 2024, surging back from rank #71 in the chart thanks to the game's successful release on PC. During this time, Nintendo also saw the release of the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake. However, Sony remained on top with better sales in physical and digital media from Ghost of Tsushima.

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Also, Helldivers 2 was a massive release for Sony, and it can be played only on PC or PlayStation 5. The large number of sales accrued with these two games shows that Sony's strategy of bringing its exclusives to PC is incredibly successful, being able to tap into a whole new market.

As the years go by, we see more and more PlayStation exclusives, such as The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, and many more, be ported to PC. As this happens, Sony's sales skyrocket as it adds a new layer of accessibility to the game for fans who may not be able to afford a PlayStation 5.

Circana also notes that May 2024 saw a 3% dip in all content spending, compared to a 13% growth in mobile content spending. As more games are put on mobile (including CAPCOM's Resident Evil series), new audiences can discover them, and they can usually get them for cheaper than they may get on another console.

The Nintendo Switch is seeing the biggest drop in sales, which could be related to the upcoming announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2. Many players avoid buying a new Nintendo Switch because they don't