The sales of videogames in US hit the highest in more than a decade in March as the Americans turned to games like "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" due to the lockdowns imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19.
The sales of the gaming hardware, software and accessories in the US spiked by 35 percent to $1.6 billion in last month compared to that of a year earlier, as per a data released by the research firm NPD.
Videogames sales witnessed a major boost due to Coronavirus lockdowns
The sales and growth are the highest for the month since March 2008, when sales grew over 52 percent to $1.8 billion, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. Nintendo's life-simulation title "Animal Crossing: New Horizons", launched last month, topped NPD's best-selling list, followed by Activision Blizzard Inc's battle blockbuster "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare".
As the coronavirus shut down the country and forced millions inside their homes, certain businesses including gaming, online streaming and video conferencing have witnessed a boost in user engagement. Analysts have expected gaming sales to benefit in the near-term from the stay-at-home orders.
"NBA 2K20" from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc and Sony's baseball simulation game "MLB: The Show 20" were also among the most sold games, the data showed. Sales of gaming consoles Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch rose 63 vpercent to $461 million in March from a year earlier. Nintendo Switch hardware sales more than doubled. New-generation consoles, Microsoft Corp's Xbox Series X and Sony's PlayStation 5 are expected to come out at the end of the year.
(With agency inputs)
