According to the NPD Group, an American market research company, the video game industry has undergone a record-breaking half of the year. Reportedly, US Consumers have spent $19.5 billion on video game-related products in the first six months of the year, which is a 40% increase over the first half of 2017. One area of mass improvement is seen in hardware sales, which is the highest it has been in seven years at $1.7 billion.

Concerning hardware sales, the NPD highlighted the market for the Xbox One, as well as devices such as Nintendo's NES and SNES Classic editions. In fact, the NES classic was the best selling device of June. Nevertheless, the majority of the spending still occurred on games, with full game sales, subscriptions, DLC, and microtransactions across all mediums rising by 43% year-on-year to a total of $16.9 billion.

Video game accessories are also on the rise, with there being a 41% increase over 2017. Headsets and headphones have doubled in sales, with many noting the success of Fortnite as a reason. However, the NPD reports the biggest growth in spending occurred in the mobile department, thanks to games like Candy Crush Saga. One would also imagine that the success of Pokemon GO is a contributing factor to the success of the mobile department.

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While the aforementioned games bolstered a huge increase in the video game industry, there was a slew of other influential games, such as PUBG, Roblox, Far Cry 5, and God of War. The increasingly popular battle royale trend, which is partially responsible for the advent and success of Fortnite, seems likely to continue its contributions since more battle royale titles are to launch this fall.

An analyst for the NPD Group, Mat Piscatella, is predicting a strong remainder for 2018, thanks to the number of major titles releasing. Combined with the increase in hardware and accessory spending, these 15 most anticipated games for fall 2018 are likely to bolster these already record-breaking sales. In other words, it's a great time to be a gamer.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz