It was a record August for games in the US, with consumer spending reaching $4.4 billion, a 7% increase year-on-year, according to the latest NPD data.
Year-to-date spending reached $37.9 billion, which is a 13% rise compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, hardware spending increased 45% year-on-year, to reach $329 million, making it the biggest month of August since 2008. Year-to-date hardware spending grew 49%, reaching $3 billion.
The Nintendo Switch topped the hardware charts for the month (and for the year so far), followed by the PlayStation 5.
"After 10 months in market PlayStation 5 remains the fastest-selling PlayStation platform in history," NPDs VG industry analyst Mat Piscatella noted.
On the software side, Madden NFL 22 debuted at No.1, having released on August 17, and instantly became the fourth best selling game of the year so far. NPD noted that its the 22nd year in a row that Madden NFL takes the top of the charts during its launch month.
EAs title was followed by Ghost of Tsushima, which reentered the charts following the release of its directors cut on PlayStation 4 and 5.
The only other new entry in the charts this month was Segas Humankind, which debuted at No.4.
Accessories spending was flat year-on-year, totalling $164 million, while year-to-date accessory sales saw a 12% increase to $1.6 billion.
Heres the US Top 10 (based on dollar sales) for the period between August 1, 2021 and August 28, 2021, courtesy of The NPD Group:
Last MonthThis MonthTitleNEW1Madden NFL 221102Ghost of Tsushima23Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold WarNEW4Humankind85Marvels Spider-Man: Miles Morales46Mario Kart 8*17The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword*58Minecraft209Assassins Creed: Valhalla710MLB: The Show 21^*Digital sales not included
^Xbox digital sales not included