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Helldivers 2 has skyrocketed to the top of the sales charts for February, as reported by industry-tracking firm Circana. Arrowhead’s phenomenon not only claimed the bestseller title for the month but also for the year so far. This achievement is remarkable, considering it managed to surpass the dominance of Call of Duty. However, while video game sales saw decent performance overall, hardware sales took a significant dip in February, which was not entirely unexpected.
According to Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive producer for games reports, “February video game hardware spending declined 30% compared to a year ago, totaling $349 million.” All console platforms experienced a minimum 19% drop in comparison to the previous year. On a positive note, in February 2023, hardware sales had increased by 68%, indicating that this year’s decline might be more of a correction than a significant drawback.
| February 2024 Dollar Sales, Millions | Feb 2023 |
Feb 2024 |
Change |
| Total Video Game Sales | $4,636 | $4,714 | 2% |
| Video Game Content | $3,962 | $4,146 | 5% |
| Video Game Hardware | $498 | $349 | -30% |
| Video Game Accessories | $175 | $219 | 25% |
Despite the decline in hardware sales, accessory sales recorded a 25% year-over-year increase, with the PlayStation Portal emerging as the best-selling accessory for the month. Piscatella also shared data from Circana’s mobile partner, Sensor Tower, indicating that Monopoly Go contributed to a 17% rise in mobile gaming spending from the previous year.
“PlayStation 5 led the February and year-to-date hardware market in both unit and dollar sales,” noted Piscatella. “Nintendo Switch ranked 2nd in unit sales, while Xbox Series secured the 2nd spot in dollar sales for both periods.”
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Circana February 2024: Top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.
| Rank | Last Month Rank |
Title | Publisher |
The standout success of Helldivers 2 in February’s sales charts signifies its surge in popularity within the gaming community. Piscatella highlighted that 60% of Helldivers 2’s sales originated from Steam this month, achieving the “7th highest total ever achieved by a Sony published title in the U.S.”
