Being stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic may have given the Nintendo Switch a boost. Sales of the device more than doubled in March compared with last year, according to The NPD Group. The launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons last month also likely gave the Nintendo Switch a leg up.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also each saw sales go up by more than 25% year over year in March, according to a Tuesday report by VentureBeat. Total spending on video game hardware this month increased 63% to $461 million, The NPD Group said in a release. Software increased by 34%, and accessories and game cards sales grew by 12%.
"As communities have practiced social distancing and observed stay at home orders across the United States over the past weeks, many people have turned to video games as a means of finding connections," Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group, said in a statement. "Whether together on the couch playing locally, or playing online, gaming has generated increased engagement, which has resulted in corresponding increases in consumer spend."
