NPD Group Notes Strong Console Sales Despite Decline In Video Game Software Sales In June
It was a bit of a weird month in June for the video game industry. According to a fresh report from NPD Group, overall sales of game systems, software, and accessories in June came to $735 million, representing a healthy 24 percent jump compared to the same month a year ago. It's also the ninth consecutive month of increased sales in the games category, which can be credited in large part to new console purchases.
Hardware sales jumped a whopping 106 percent to $292.7 million -- not terribly shocking when you consider that a year ago, gamers were holding out for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, both of which are now easily accessible. However, software sales declined 3 percent to $286.8 million after having climbed by double-digits last month.
"While the new hardware launches were a major factor in overall new physical video-game growth, the start of this year-over-year growth began in September 2013, two months before the November 2013 launches of Xbox One and PS4," said the NPD Group's Liam Callahan. "September and October 2013 year-over-year growth for overall new physical video-game sales were driven by software increases."
In a separate press release, Sony claimed its PS4 was the best selling game console in June, though it didn't provide any specific figures. That seems to be par for course these days -- Microsoft just recently announced that sales of its Xbox One more than doubled in June, but also declined to cough up hard numbers.
Watch Dogs took the top spot in video game software sales in June, followed by Mario Kart 8, Minecraft, UFC, FIFA 14 (no doubt boosted by the World Cup), NBA 2K14, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Tomodachi Life, and Grande Theft Auto V.
Hardware sales jumped a whopping 106 percent to $292.7 million -- not terribly shocking when you consider that a year ago, gamers were holding out for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, both of which are now easily accessible. However, software sales declined 3 percent to $286.8 million after having climbed by double-digits last month.
"While the new hardware launches were a major factor in overall new physical video-game growth, the start of this year-over-year growth began in September 2013, two months before the November 2013 launches of Xbox One and PS4," said the NPD Group's Liam Callahan. "September and October 2013 year-over-year growth for overall new physical video-game sales were driven by software increases."
In a separate press release, Sony claimed its PS4 was the best selling game console in June, though it didn't provide any specific figures. That seems to be par for course these days -- Microsoft just recently announced that sales of its Xbox One more than doubled in June, but also declined to cough up hard numbers.
Watch Dogs took the top spot in video game software sales in June, followed by Mario Kart 8, Minecraft, UFC, FIFA 14 (no doubt boosted by the World Cup), NBA 2K14, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Tomodachi Life, and Grande Theft Auto V.
