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

After a brief spike last month, hardware sales have slipped again, according to industry tracking firm The NPD Group. The continued shortage of consoles alongside a relatively quiet release time appears to have sent the industry into a bit of a slump.

“In May 2022, consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories fell 19% year over year to $3.7 billion,” said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. “This is the lowest total monthly spend the industry has seen since February 2020 ($3.5 billion).”

However, this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. After the many big releases earlier this year, there weren’t that many major game launches this summer. Consoles are also hard to come by. But gamers are still spending, with the Nintendo Switch leading in hardware sales.

Piscatella said, “Year-to-date spending has reached $21.9 billion, down 10% compared to the same period in 2021. Subscription content is the only category to show annual spending growth.”

May 2022 NPD: The 20 best-selling games of the month in the US

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

These charts are sorted by dollar sales – not by the number of units sold. And this applies to the sale of full versions of the game and does not include in-game expenses.

After a brief period in which Lego dominated Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Elden Ring is back at the top for best-selling game of the month. According to Piscatella, it was the best-selling game on Steam and Xbox, and the second best-selling on PlayStation. The Lego title is forced to take the silver medal, but Horizon: Forbidden West has suffered the biggest crash, completely out of the top 10.

Evil Dead: The Game

The only new game to hit the top selling charts in May was Evil Dead: The Game. While the game is good, the fact that it’s the only title to make the list is down to a lack of releases rather than an abundance of underselling ones. May had a light release slate of other debuts, including games like Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, Trek to Yomi, and Salt and Sacrifice.

Piscatella continued to speculate Twitter that high spending on daily expenses could also have had an impact on the low numbers. Consumers are also returning to “experimental spending” rather than 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 was around Ever since it launched over ten years ago, its sudden rise to the top 20 in a peripheral sense still comes as a bit of a surprise.

One possible reason for this, according to Piscatella, is the release of the Steam Deck. Another possibility is that Bethesda RPG fans are treating themselves to a well-known game after Starfield’s announced delay.

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 games on the Nintendo platform in the US

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling PlayStation Platform Games in the US

May 2022 NPD: Top 10 Best Selling Xbox Platform Games in the US