Game On: U.S. game spending estimated to rise 10% in July

New “Star Wars,” “Mana” games out this week

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: 

This week’s biggest new game release is Ubisoft’s (UBSFY) open-world adventure game “Star Wars Outlaws,” which launches August 30 for PC, Xbox Series X/S (MSFT), and PlayStation 5 (SONY). Also out this week is Square Enix’s (SQNXF) role-playing game “Visions of Mana,” which launches August 29 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PS4.

CIRCANA JULY DATA: 

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that projected U.S. spending on video game hardware, content and accessories reached $4.8B in July 2024, gaining 10% when compared to a year ago. 2024 year-to-date spending is now 2% higher than a year ago, at $32.1B. Video game content spending increased 10% in July compared to a year ago, as 29% growth in console content spending and an 8% increase in mobile was partially offset by a 6% drop in spending on PC, cloud, and non-console VR content. July video game hardware spending grew 12% when compared to a year ago, to $326 million. Growth in spending on Sony’s PlayStation 5 (+25% vs YA) and Microsoft’s Xbox Series (+48%) hardware was partially offset by a 44% drop in spending on Nintendo Switch (NTDOY). PlayStation 5 led the month’s hardware market in unit and dollar sales, with Xbox Series ranking 2nd across both measures. July 2024 is the first month with year-on-year growth in video game hardware spending since the 2% increase seen during December 2023.

On the software side, Piscatella said that Electronic Arts’ (EA) “EA Sports College Football 25,” which launched in July, debuted as the best-selling game of 2024 in the U.S. year-to-date and was the primary driver of both content and hardware growth on console platforms. Launch month dollar sales of “EA Sports College Football 25” more than tripled the total lifetime dollar sales of the previous best-selling college football game, “NCAA Football 07.” The EA Sports MVP Bundle, which includes the “EA Sports College Football 25 Deluxe Edition” and “Madden NFL 25 Deluxe Edition,” ranked 2nd among July’s best-selling titles, and placed 5th for the 2024 year-to-date period. The only other new release to rank among the top 20 best-selling premium games in July was Nintendo’s “Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition.” Its physical sales alone ranked 1st on Switch during the month, and 6th overall. Other top selling games in the U.S. in July were Bandai Namco’s (NCBDY) “Elden Ring,” Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III,” Microsoft’s “Minecraft,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) “Hogwarts Legacy,” Sony’s “MLB The Show 24,” and EA’s “EA Sports FC 24.”

ANALYSTS STILL BULLISH ON TAKE-TWO: 

Following a variety of announcements at Gamescom last week, Benchmark raised the firm’s price target on Take-Two (TTWO). The company made “significant announcements” at Gamescom’s Opening Night, including reporting that “Borderlands 4” and “Mafia: The Old Country” are both set for release in fiscal 2026. With “Grand Theft Auto 6” on the near-term horizon and major game announcements from Gamescom, the company’s long-building pipeline is “positioned to drive substantial financial growth,” said the analyst, who identifies Take-Two as “a Top Idea for 2024.”

Meanwhile, BofA noted that the next “Mafia” game was already in the firm’s FY26 model, but BofA had assumed “Borderlands 4” to be a FY27 title based on the view that it would unlikely be released in the same year as “Grand Theft Auto 6.” While investor focus remains on the launch timeline for “GTA 6,” the analyst thinks the latest title announcements showcase the potential of the rest of the FY26/27 immersive core slate of 15 titles, which is “likely underappreciated”.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Take-Two as measured by TipRanks.

NEW XBOX MODELS: 

Microsoft announced last week that players can pre-order the Xbox Series S – 1TB in Robot White, Xbox Series X – 1TB Digital Edition in Robot White, and Xbox Series X – 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition. “For many players, we know our consoles are the preferred choice to play the incredible titles available on Xbox,” said Roanne Sones, head of Xbox Devices. “I’m excited to share that the three new Xbox Series X S console options, announced earlier this year at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, will release on October 15, with select countries following on October 29.” These console options will be available in all current Xbox hardware supported regions and markets including Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States with the exception of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, and UAE, and console availability will vary by country.

MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:

• Sony plans to hike the price of PlayStation 5 consoles in Japan by about 20%, Reuters reports
• Tencent’s (TCEHY) latest action game “Black Myth: Wukong” took about 83 hours to sell 10M copies, Bloomberg reports
• At Gamescom, Bethesda confirmed that upcoming game “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” will release December 9, 2024 for PC and Xbox Series X/S, with a PlayStation 5 version of the game releasing in Spring 2025
• Nintendo announced plans to shut down free-to-play mobile game “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp”

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Originally Posted August 27, 2024 – Game On: U.S. game spending estimated to rise 10% in July

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