NPD: sales for March 2015 (United States)

Software

Some really popular games came out in March 2015 in the United States, but those weren’t enough to prevent a drop in retail sales (game + hardware + accessories) during a rather slow month. Fortunately, the drop is rather limited: -6% year over year ($963.7 million vs $1.02 billion).

For Nintendo, the month was rather good, even though there’s only one their games in the Software chart: Mario Party 10. This party-game sold pretty well during the first two weeks, with over 290 000 units sold (digital + retail). As for the star of last month, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D, it stayed popular throughout March, with over 184 000 units sold (digital + retail), which brings the total of units sold since launch to 730 000 units (digital + retail). It should have no problem reaching 1 million before the end of the first semester (June 30th).

But The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D wasn’t the only popular game on the Nintendo 3DS: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS also sold pretty well, with 110 000 additional copies sold in March (retail + digital). This brings the total of copies sold since launch to 2.4 millions. As for the Wii U version, it sold over 1.6 million copies (retail + digital), which is 300 000 less than Mario Kart 8 (1.9 millions).

Overall, sales of Nintendo 3DS games increased during March: +20% year on year.

Software – Top 10

01) Battlefield: Hardline (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, 360, PS3, PC)
02) Bloodborne (PS4)
03) Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
04) Mario Party 10 (Wii U)
05) Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
06) MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS3)
07) Minecraft (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
08) NBA 2K15 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
09) Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4, Xbox One)
10) Final Fantasy: Type 0 HD (PS4, Xbox One)

Hardware

The New Nintendo 3DS came out in February in the United States, and its positive effect on sales could still be felt in March. During that month, roughly 260-270 000 units were sold, which is an increase of 80% year over year. Wii U sales are also up year on year, but the increase is much more limited: only 20%. What’s more, sales weren’t too great, especially compared to the competition, as roughly 80-85 000 units were sold.

Overall, sales of Nintendo hardware increased by 60% in March 2015 (compared to March 2014).

Hardware sales:

– PlayStation 4: #1 platform
– Nintendo 3DS: ~260/270K
– Wii U: ~80/85K

Source: NPD
Via: NeoGAF / Venturebeat