Xbox 360 is Top-Selling Home Console For 32nd Straight Month
The Xbox 360 was the top-selling home videogame console in the U.S. for the 32nd straight month in August, said NPD analyst Liam Callahan, despite the impending launch of the Xbox One Nov. 22. But the handheld 3DS remained the No. 1 videogame system overall for the fourth straight month, he said. Nintendo didn’t say how many 3DS systems were sold in August, and NPD stopped providing hardware sales data to reporters a while ago.
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About 96,000 Xbox 360s were sold last month (actually Aug. 4-31) in the U.S., Microsoft said, citing NPD’s data. But that was down from the 107,000 sold the prior month (July 7-Aug. 3) and 193,000 sold in August 2012 (CED Sept 10/12 p10). Total U.S. retail spending on all Xbox 360 products reached $213 million last month, said Microsoft. That was “the most for any console” in the U.S., it said, citing NPD’s data. Seven games in the top 10 videogame software chart were released for the 360, including the month’s No. 1 title, Madden NFL 25 from Electronic Arts. But of those only the No. 5 Minecraft, published for the 360 by Microsoft, was exclusive to the 360.
Sony Computer Entertainment America again didn’t provide hardware sales data for any of its systems. Neither did Ouya, but U.S. retail sales of the new $99 videogame system were “relatively light for a new console” in June, Callahan had said of Ouya (CED July 22 p6).
Total U.S. videogame hardware sales tumbled 40 percent to $90.8 million Aug. 4-31 in the physical retail channel compared to the comparable period a year ago, said NPD. “Every platform experienced a decline” in sales from the prior year, said Callahan, who hoped hardware sales will improve with the November launches of the PS4 and Xbox One.
Total U.S. videogame industry sales across all products in the physical retail channel inched up 1 percent from a year ago to $521 million, said NPD. Excluding January, which saw growth because of an extra reporting week compared to January 2012, the last time total retail videogame sales were up year-over-year was October 2011, said Callahan.
August’s growth was helped by a 23 percent increase in videogame software sales, a 21 percent increase in total game sales including PC titles, and a 7 percent increase in accessory sales, said NPD. Videogame software sales in the physical retail channel grew to $293.4 million, while total game software sales in the same channel grew to $305 million, and accessory sales improved to $136.7 million, it said. Videogame retail software sales had their first positive month since November 2011, said Callahan. The growth was “driven by the shift” of Madden into NPD’s August data month after just missing it in 2012, and other new releases, including Deep Silver’s Saints Row IV for the 360, PS3 and PCs at No. 2, he said. Eight of the month’s top 10 games were released in August, he said. There were three titles in the top 10 videogame software sales chart for the struggling Wii U, including Disney Infinity at No. 3, Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist at No. 4 and Nintendo’s Pikmin 3 at No. 10, said NPD. Only Pikmin 3 was exclusive to the Nintendo console. Infinity was also the best-selling title for the 3DS and the only other title for that system in the top 10 was Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, a 3DS exclusive, at No. 6.
Disney’s game gave a lift to accessory sales because of its set of interactive gaming toys that are sold separately for the title, said Callahan. Combined with sales of accessories for Activision’s Skylanders franchise, one in every three accessories sold last month was an interactive gaming toy, he said. Sales of videogame and subscription cards were also strong in August and, when combined with interactive gaming toys, those two types of accessories represented more than 50 percent of accessory revenue last month, he said. With the launch of Infinity, NPD started categorizing sales of that title’s accessories, as well as those of Skylanders, as interactive gaming toys within the accessories category, it said.
The sales data accounted for only about 50 percent of total U.S. consumer spending on games last month, NPD estimated. Taking into account its preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in August, including used games and rentals at $178 million, and its estimate for digital game sales at $528 million, Callahan projected that the total amount of money that U.S. consumers spent in the sector was “just over” $1.2 billion. Digital sales include full game and add-on content downloads such as micro-transactions, as well as subscriptions, mobile apps and social network games, said NPD.