Video game spending in February reached a record $4.6 billion, representing a 35 percent year-over-year increase, the NPD Group reports. Total spending for 2021 year-to-date is $9.3 billion, a 39 percent increase from the same period in 2020.

Hardware sales have seen a marked annual increase of 121 percent, reaching $406 million in revenue. This is the highest total sales in a February month since 2011, which reached $468 million. The Nintendo Switch was once again the top-selling console in both units and dollars for February, though specific numbers for the Switch were not provided. The PlayStation 5 followed, making it the fastest-selling hardware platform in U.S. history in terms of total dollar sales after four months on the market.

On the software front, gaming content, including physical and digital game copies and cloud subscriptions, totaled $4 billion for the month of February, a 30 percent year-over-year increase. Year to date, game software represents $8.2 billion of total gaming sales, a 33 percent annual increase.