Revenue of the U.S. video game industry 2017-2024
In September 2024, the retail gaming revenue in the United States amounted to 4.38 billion U.S. dollars. When looking at particular segment revenues, accessories were the lowest-performing segment at retail overall, while video gaming content accounted for the gross of consumer spending.
Video game spending habits in the United States
More than four in ten U.S. gamers across all platforms were willing to spend a maximum of 41 to 60 U.S. dollars on a video game. A November 2022 survey found that more than four in ten PC and console gamers stated so, while over three in ten mobile-only gamers said they only played free games. Console gamers were most comfortable spending money on their hobby at this price point. In 2023, total U.S. consumer spending on video game content amounted to 57.2 billion U.S. dollars, a one percent increase from 56.6 billion U.S. dollars in the preceding year.
Game releases are planned around the holiday season
What is very specific to the industry at large is that the highest monthly revenues occur around the holiday season in November and December of each year. The entire market revolves around maximizing sales during the season, and most new game releases of high-budget, high-profile titles (so-called AAA games) are planned shortly before the winter holidays. Many of these annual blockbuster releases see releases from late Q3 onwards: EA Sports FC usually releases in late September, and new games in Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty series are launched between late October and early November.
For the holiday season 2023, blockbusters Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield had already started the season of major video game releases. Other AAA titles that are also taking advantage of the Christmas shopping release window are the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as well as the Nintendo Switch release of Hogwarts Legacy and the PS5 port of mobile gaming title Honkai Star Rail by Genshin Impact publisher MiHoYo.
