Consumer spending on video games rises to $28.9 billion for the first half of 2021
16 July 2021
Consumer spending on video game hardware, software and accessories rose to $28.9 billion for the first half of 2021, up 15% from the same time last year, according to the NPD group.
Why it matters: The easing of pandemic-related lockdowns in the U.S. hasn't stopped the boom in gaming, which began with the onset of COVID-19 last year.
- If anything, the pandemic is now holding back hardware spending, as console manufacturing, impacted by supply chain disruptions, is keeping supply well short of demand.
By the numbers:
- The Nintendo Switch led in unit and dollar sales for the first half, according to NPD, which doesn’t release specific tallies.
- For June, the Switch sold the most units, but the more expensive and newer Xbox Series X and S consoles combined led in dollar sales.
- NPD's June software chart, tracked by revenue, was topped by "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart." Notably, a free "Pirates of the Caribbean"-themed update to Xbox's "Sea of Thieves" bumped the 2018 game from No. 36 in May to No. 20 in June.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.