The NPD Group (NPD) and Information Resources, Inc (IRI) merged in August 2022 and announced the name of the company has changed to Circana.

February 2023 Circana (NPD) covers the four week period from January 29 to February 25 and will be released on March 28.

Be sure to get your predictions in before March 28. Since NPD leaks don't happen nearly as often as it used to and hardware revenue is something we do get, be sure to include revenue in your predictions. 

February 2022 Hardware:

• Units: 1) PS5 2) Switch 3) XBS
• Dollars: 1) PS5 2) XBS 3) Switch

2022 YTD dollars:

• 1) PS5 2) Switch 3) XBS

Feel free to also predict what you think the top software games will be for the month. 

Example prediction:

[Total Hardware Revenue]

1. [#1 selling console] XXX,000
2. [#2 selling console] XXX,000
3. [#3 selling console] XXX,000

Link to VGChartz article here.

PS5 Best-Selling Console in the US in February, Hogwarts Legacy Debuts in 1st

The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in February 2023 in terms of units sold and dollar sales, according to figures from Circana (formerly The NPD Group). NPD includes the dates for the four week period of January 29 to February 25.

PlayStation 5 sales grew enough to drive February hardware sales to its highest since the $534 million total in 2009.

The Nintendo Switch was the second best-selling console in February in terms of units sold, while the Xbox Series X|S came in third place. In terms of dollar sales, the Xbox Series X|S was in second place, while the Nintendo was in third place.

Overall spending on video games in February was up six percent year-on-year from $4.32 billion to $4.60 billion. Spending on video game content increased one percent from $3.84 billion to $3.89 billion, while video game hardware sales jumped 68 percent from $295 million to $495.

Overall spending on video games in 2023 year-to-date is flat at $8.95. Spending on video game content decreased two percent from $7.84 billion to $7.68 billion, while video game hardware sales is up 29 percent from $687 million to $888.

"Consumer spending on video game content, hardware and accessories totaled $4.6B, 6% higher when compared to a year ago," said Circana Executive Director and Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella. "Video game hardware (+68%), accessories (+13%) and content (+1%) all grew compared to February 2022.

"February 2023 marks the highest monthly year-on-year percentage growth for the U.S. video game market since October 2021, when spending increased 13% compared to October 2020."

Piscatella added, "Video game hardware spending increased 68% when compared to February 2021, to $495 million. This is the highest video game hardware spend for a February month since the $534 million total reached in 2009.

"Growth in PlayStation 5 hardware spending drove the February hardware market gains. PS5 was the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars over both the February 2023 and 2023 YTD time periods. YTD HW spending is now 29% higher when compared to the same period in 2022."

Hogwarts Legacy debuted at the top of the software charts (ranked by dollar sales) and is already the best-selling game of 2023. It was also the best-selling game on the PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam charts.

There were seven new releases in the top 10: Wild Hearts debuted in eighth, Like a Dragon: Ishin! debuted in ninth, Octopath Traveler II debuted in 10th, Kirby's Return to Dream Land debuted in 15th place, Company of Heroes 3 debuted in 16th place, and Theatrythm: Final Bar Line debuted in 20th place.

The Last of Us: Part I climbed from 11th to sixth place, while The Last of Us: Part II jumped up from 41st to 18th place. This was driven by the popularity of the The Last of Us HBO TV series.

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars for February 2023:

Here are the top 20 best-selling games in 2023 year-to-date:

Not sure if I like the new name...

Tagging thread.

I haven't the slightest prediction for numbers with Sony's crazy shipments this quarter but I am assuming it will go PS5, Switch, Series S/X for both units and dollars.

476 million

[PS5] 570,000
[NS] 300,000
[Xbox XS] 295,000

[PS5] 900k

[XBS] 250k

[SWI] 275k

Update off by alot but see excited to see that its above 533k (most likely higher than that)

The new name seems way off to me, "The NPD Group" was a perfect fit for a company doing market research, Circana sounds more like... the name of an AI or something. Maybe all their estimates will be AI generated from now on?

But since I'm here I'll place predictions as well:

Revenue: 445k

[PS5] 525k
[NS] 275k
[XBS] 240k

My guess for Februrary: they will realize the new name is terrible

If only it were so

Does the new name has any ressemblance to some form of ancient Greek, roman, Latin knowledge ? Cuz otherwise this seems to be just an unnecessary, confusing name change. Doesn't roll off the tongue well either but oh well, as long as their primary functions remain the same ...

Prediction wise :

NSW - 280K
PS5 - 550K
Xbox Series - 200K

Can't we just continue using NPD in the titles here ?