PlayStation 5 Breaks Nintendo's 33-Month Streak: What It Could Mean For Video Game Stocks

The video game console market has been a three-way race for many years. One player has dominated the list for the last three years until a long streak was broken in September. Here are the details.

What Happened: After 33 months as the top-selling video game console in the U.S., the Nintendo Switch has lost its streak.

In the month of September, the Sony Group Corp's SONY PlayStation 5 was the bestselling video game console. The strong month for Sony’s console knocks the Nintendo Co NTDOY down a step to the second-place share for the month.

“Playstation 5 was the best-selling hardware platform of September in both units and dollars,” NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella tweeted.

PlayStation 5 is the top-selling console year-to-date in dollars, while the Nintendo Switch remains in the lead in units sold.

NPD reported video game hardware and accessories were up 3% in September hitting a record for the month at $4.4 billion. Year-to-date, video game hardware and accessories are up 12% to $42.3 billion.

Related Link: Why Sony's Playstation 5 Is Winning What Could Be The Last Console War

Why It’s Important: The last time the Nintendo Switch didn’t top the monthly console charts was November 2018, when the PlayStation 4 ranked first. Even with the release of the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft, the Switch has shown true staying power as the leader in units sold for 33 straight months.

Nintendo recently launched a new version of the Switch, which could help propel the console back to the lead for the month of October.

GameStop Corp GME was trending on Twitter thanks to the console release and the game “Metroid Dread” for the Nintendo Switch console.

New video games in the Mario and Pokemon franchise lines could also help boost Nintendo Switch sales in the months of November and December.

The Switch has sold over 89 million units since launching in 2017. The PlayStation 5 has sold over 10 million units since its November 2020 launch.

Sony said the PlayStation 5 is its fastest-selling PlayStation console of all time.

Microsoft Corporation MSFT doesn't break out individual sales figures for the Xbox Series S/X consoles, but estimates say around 6.6 million have been sold.

Price Action: Sony shares are down 1% to $111.01 on Monday. Nintendo shares are down 1% to $56.