PlayStation’s PC Success Highlighted in Latest U.S. Video Game Market Report
PlayStation’s venture into the PC gaming world is proving to be a lucrative move, as evidenced by the most recent U.S. Video Game Market Highlights report from analyst firm Circana. The standout success story is developer Sucker Punch Production’s Ghost of Tsushima, originally released on PlayStation 4 in 2020, claiming the top spot as the best-selling game in May 2024 in the U.S. This achievement can largely be attributed to the recent PC launch of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on May 16.
The strategic decision to release Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PC nearly four years after its initial debut on PS4 aligns with PlayStation’s revealed PC release strategy from the previous month. The plan outlines that the live-service games, such as Helldivers 2 from this year or the upcoming 5v5 hero shooter Concord, will see simultaneous PC launches. In contrast, flagship single-player titles like Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut and the highly anticipated God of War Ragnarök (scheduled for a PC release in September) will have staggered launch dates.
The Top 10 Best-Selling Games in May 2024
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
- Helldivers II
- MLB: The Show 24
- Sea of Thieves
- Minecraft
- Elden Ring
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Stellar Blade
Top 20 Best-Selling Games of the Year
For more detailed insights, check out the complete Circana report for an in-depth analysis of the top-selling premium games in the U.S. market for the year up to May 2024 as shared by Mat Piscatella on Twitter.
Despite an overall 3% decline in content spending compared to May 2023, amounting to $3.6 billion, mobile content spending surged by 13%. However, this growth in mobile spending was counteracted by a substantial 40% decrease in console content spending, linked to the impact of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s successful launch the previous year.
Additional findings from the report indicate a 40% reduction in video game hardware spending in May 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, totaling $202 million. Piscatella notes that all current-generation hardware platforms are observing double-digit percentage declines in 2024, with the Switch experiencing the most significant drop.
Among the hardware sales highlights, the PlayStation 5 dominated unit and dollar sales in May 2024, with the Switch following closely in unit sales and the Xbox Series X/S securing the second spot in dollar sales. Over 43 months on the market, the PS5 experienced an 8% rise compared to its predecessor PS4, while the Xbox Series X/S saw a 13% decline compared to the Xbox One.
Accessories spending in May 2024 dipped by 8% compared to the previous year, with the PlayStation Portal emerging as the leading accessory in terms of dollar sales for the month and the entire year overall.
For a comprehensive overview, refer to the complete Circana report. Dive deeper into the gaming world by exploring Game Informer’s review of Ghost of Tsushima and watch how Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut fares on Steam Deck.
Share your experience with Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PC in the comments below!