NPD: sales for January 2016 (United States)
According to the NPD, sales of video games in the United States generated $605.2 million in January, which is a drop of 4% compared to January 2015 ($627.6 million). But this time, both Software and Hardware are down, and previous-gen platforms are not the only one responsible either.
In fact, only the peripherals market (which includes the Toys-to-Life segment, with Skylanders, Disney Infinity and amiibo) was up: +15% Year on Year, with $235.5 million in 2016 (compared to $206 million in 2015).
Software
Software-wise, sales are down by 10% Year on Year: they went from $235.6 million to $212.7 million. The reason for that decline is quite simple: less games came out compared to last year: in fact, the only new title in the Top 10 is LEGO Marvel Avengers. Compared to January 2014, sales (by dollar) are down by 51%.
What’s more, even games released in Q4 2015 were a bit weak in January 2016:
This month’s new physical software decline also stemmed from softness from the performance of Q4 launches in January, which were down 19 percent from last year’s Q4 launches
If the Top 10 was by SKU (meaning multiplatform releases wouldn’t be grouped together), Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. would be at #10.
Top 10 Software
01) Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
02) Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
03) NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
04) Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
05) Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
06) Minecraft (360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3)
07) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
08) Madden NFL 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
09) Lego Marvel Avengers (PS4, Xbox One, 360, Wii U, PS3, 3DS, Vita)
10) FIFA 16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
Hardware
In January, Hardware sales generated $157 million, which is a noticeable drop compared to the same month in 2015 ($185.4 million, -15%). The NPD notes that in previous months, sales of current-gen platforms compensated for the drop in sales from previous-gen consoles (and handhelds), but it wasn’t the case in January.
Sales of current-gen platforms dropped by 8%, which is partially due to the drop in prices compared to January 2015. Sales (by units) were actually flat, but the lower prices dragged revenue down.
According to the NPD, sales of Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 dropped by 80% Year on Year, while Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita sales dropped by 21%. 96% of all consoles sold in January 2016 were current-gen consoles (vs 84% in January 2015).
Source: NPD
Via: VentureBeat
