NPD analyst Mat Piscatella has predicted that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games will have “longer tails” due to backwards compatibility and lack of next-gen releases.
In a blog post dedicated to U.S. consumer spending forecast for holiday 2020, Piscatella noted that we “will not see the sharp platform breaks that were experienced in prior generational transitions.”
U.S. video game spending is expected to reach a record $13.4 billion in the upcoming holiday season, and annual spending may exceed $50 billion – also a new record high for the market.
Other predictions include:
- PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series console sales will sizzle
- Nintendo Switch will be the best-selling console of holiday 2020
- Gamepad and headset spending will set new holiday records
- Holiday 2020 hardware will see the lowest price promotion in history
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be the best-selling game of 2020
- Subscription spending will surge
- Next generation’s limited storage provides opportunity for storage accessories
“New consoles, more players, increased player engagement, wider variety in titles and services than at any point in the industry’s history, and a shift in spending away from experiences to other segments all give video games strong market tailwinds this holiday,” wrote Piscatella. “It is not so much a question of whether the U.S. video game market will set a new spending record this holiday, rather the question is how high the new record will be.”
What do our readers think of the predictions? Will you be picking up current-gen titles to play them on your PS5?
[Source: NPD]
