US video game spending experienced a 6% decline in May, according to the latest monthly charts.
Ghost of Tsushima soared to the pinnacle of Circana's US charts for May.
The action-adventure game from Sucker Punch, released in 2020, made a significant leap from 71st place after launching on Steam in May. This move allowed it to surpass Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in consumer spending on both physical and digital platforms, despite Nintendo not sharing digital sales data.
Other top performers included Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Helldivers 2, and MLB: The Show 24, rounding out the top five. New entrants like F1 24, Homeworld 3, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door also made it into the Top 20, ranking 19th, 14th, and 2nd respectively, though Paper Mario's digital sales were not included.
Circana's Player Engagement Tracker revealed that xDefiant achieved the 5th spot on PlayStation 5 and the 6th on Xbox Series for monthly active users in May. Fortnite dominated both platforms in active users, with Helldivers 2 leading on Steam. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade, the top seller in the previous month, fell to 10th place.
Overall, the US video game industry saw a 6 percent decrease in total expenditure on hardware, content, and accessories in May 2024 YoY, totaling $4.0 billion. This decline included a 3 percent drop in content spending, despite Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at Circana, noting that a 13 percent rise in mobile content spending couldn't counterbalance the 40 percent decline on consoles.
Here are the best-selling games from May 5 through June 1, based on Circana's data:
Rank | Previous Rank | Title |
---|---|---|
1 | 71 | Ghost of Tsushima |
2 | NEW | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door |
3 | 3 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) |
4 | 2 | Helldivers 2 |
5 | 6 | MLB: The Show 24 |
6 | 4 | Sea of Thieves |
7 | 13 | Minecraft |
8 | 19 | Elden Ring |
9 | 9 | Hogwarts Legacy |
10 | 1 | Stellar Blade |
11 | 5 | Fallout 4 |
12 | 10 | EA Sports FC 24 |
13 | 20 | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 |
14 | NEW | Homeworld 3 |
15 | 18 | Mario Kart 8 |
16 | 14 | Madden NFL 24 |
17 | 11 | Rise of the Ronin |
18 | NEW | F1 24 |
19 | 21 | Mortal Kombat 1 |
20 | 7 | Dragon's Dogma 2 |