Global Esports Fund Monthly Report – January 2023

Game demand still weak and big titles still dominate

Gaming - NPD figures showed the US gaming market continued to struggle in December with gaming software down 1 % y/y while hardware spending increased 16% thanks to better availability of consoles. Nintendo Switch was the best seller in terms of volumes while Sony Playstation was number one in terms of revenue.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II remained the best-selling game (in terms of revenue) in its third month on the market and is the best-selling game of 2022. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were up one place to second place in their second place spot, while God of War: Ragnarök dropped one place to third place. Madden NFL 23 and FIFA 23 were both up one place to fourth and fifth respectively.
Our conclusion – top seller Call of Duty did well in December and the quarter while for the rest it has been a very tough quarter indeed. Remember, last year's Call of Duty didn't sell well; the fact that it is this year and the market is still down with 1% means that the rest of the titles have fared much worse.