This year has been groundbreaking for the video game industry. Content from video games and the integration of esports into the public eye has shed light on the potential of video games. Spending has spiked tremendously in the first half of 2018.

Consumers have spent 40% more on video games in the first half of the year alone. This spending equates to 19.5 billion dollars. You might think that the rise of Fortnite and many of the popular titles on console has increased spending, but most of the growth was seen in mobile games. Spending has been the highest it has ever been in seven years. Consoles like the Xbox One and the Super NES Classic Edition equated for 1.7 billion dollars in revenue combined. This is unprecedented because the holiday season has yet to hit and that tends to be the surge on spending.

The biggest games that have created this financial hike are Epic Games’ Fortnite, Activision’s Candy Crush, Sony’s God of War, and Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5. We can expect to see even more of an impact as games such as Black Ops 4, Fallout 76, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Red Dead Redemption 2 are set to release before or during the holiday season. Console sales for the Nintendo Switch and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate should prove to also balloon the sales as SSBU will be inducted as an esport almost immediately. With this spending alone, video games are being integrated into the American culture much more than before and it doesn’t seem to be stopping.There is one more financial quarter left and the holidays are approaching quickly.

This year is set to be the best year video games have ever seen and it is only a little over half way done.