May 2022 NPD: Switch leads sales and Elden Ring retakes the top spot

After a brief uptick last month, hardware sales have again fallen, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. The continued console scarcity alongside a relatively quiet release period appears to have put the industry in a bit of a slump.

“May 2022 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories fell 19% when compared to a year ago, to $3.7 billion,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “This is the lowest monthly spending total the industry has achieved since February 2020 ($3.5 billion).”

This should not come as a great surprise, though. Following the many huge releases earlier this year, the summer has not seen as many important game launches. Consoles are also difficult to come by. But gamers are still spending money, with the Nintendo Switch leading in hardware sales.

Piscatella said, “Year-to-date spending has reached $21.9 billion, a 10% drop when compared to the same period in 2021. Subscription content is the only category showing year-on-year spending growth.”

May 2022 NPD: Top 20 best-selling games of the month in the U.S.

NPD tracks physical sales at retailers, but it also gets digital data directly from publishers. Not every company participates. For example, Nintendo doesn’t share its first-party sales, and Activision Blizzard does not provide its Battle.net sales.

These charts are sorted by dollar sales — not number of units sold. And this is for full-game sales and does not include in-game spending.

After a brief period of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga dominating, Elden Ring is back on top as the best-selling game of the month. According to Piscatella, it was the best-selling game on Steam and Xbox, and second-best on PlayStation. The Lego title is forced to take silver medal, but Horizon: Forbidden West has taken the biggest fall from grace, out of the top 10 entirely.

Evil Dead: The Game

The only new game to appear on the top-selling charts in May was Evil Dead: The Game. While the game is a good one, the fact it is the only title to appear on the list is more out of a lack of releases than an abundance of low-selling ones. May had a light release slate, with other debuts including games such as Vampire: The Masquerade — Swansong, Trek to Yomi, and Salt and Sacrifice.

Piscatella speculated on Twitter that a high cost of everyday spending may have also had an impact on the low numbers. Consumers are also returning to “experiential spending” as opposed to buying items like games.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Curiously, Skyrim has reappeared in the top 20 for the first time since November 2017. While Skyrim has been around in a peripheral sense since it launched over ten years ago, its sudden spike onto the top 20 is still a bit of a surprise.

One possible cause of this, according to Piscatella, is the release of the Steam Deck. Another possibility is that Bethesda RPG fans are self-medicating with a familiar game following the announced delay of Starfield.

May 2022 NPD: 20 best-selling games of 2022 so far

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling games of the 12 months

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling Nintendo-platform games in the U.S.

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling PlayStation-platform games in the U.S.

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 best-selling Xbox-platform games in the U.S.