NPD Software sales

Go Nintendo wrote:- new video game products generated $964.1 million in sales
- Hardware: $253.2 million in March 2016 (down 19 percent from $311.1 million)
- Software: $425.8 million in March 2016 (up 8 percent from $395.4 million)
- Accessories: $285.1 million in March 2016 (down 9 percent from $261.8 million)
- Pokken Tournament would actually take 4th place if you were counting by SKU

“Overall sales of new launch titles grew by 26 percent, with those launched in Q1 2016 collectively selling 28 percent higher in March than Q1 2015 launches performed during the same time period last year. This speaks to the strength of this year’s launch slate so far.

Software unit sales for eight generation consoles increased 36 percent, offsetting the seventh generation decline of 55 percent. This resulted in overall console software unit sales increasing 4 percent, with revenue up 10 percent compared to last March. For Portable software, unit sales and revenue were down 19 percent and 16 percent, respectively, in March 2016 compared to last year. Video game hardware dollar sales declined by 19 percent in March 2016, with unit sales dropping 17 percent. The difference in trends was due to some softening of average retail prices of 2 percent versus last March.

Portable hardware sales had the highest dollar sales volume decline versus last March, followed closely by [current-generation] consoles. Seventh generation consoles had a steep percentage decline of 78 percent, though those sales now represent only 2 percent of the month’s sales.” - NPD analyst Liam Callahan

venturebeat wrote: April was the Dark Souls of months for the game industry.

Consumers spent $509.5 million on new game-related products at retailers in the United States last month, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s down 15 percent year-over-year from $598.1 million. Unlike in March, April saw a major decline in both software and hardware sales. Only accessories, a segment that includes interactive toys such as Nintendo’s Amiibo and the recently defunct Disney Infinity, saw any growth.

Here are the numbers:

Hardware: $142.1 million in March 2016 (down 23 percent from $183.7 million)
Software: $203.9 million in March 2016 (down 21 percent from $256.7 million)
Accessories: $157.6 million in March 2016 (up 4 percent from $157.6 million
April had a pair of hugely successful launches in Dark Souls III and Ratchet & Clank, but NPD analyst Liam Callahan points out that 2016’s games didn’t before nearly as well as the games from the same period in 2015.

“New physical software declined in April 2016 due to a few factors: poor comparisons to last year’s new releases, and the poor performance of March launches in April compared to last year,” said Callahan. “Despite some record-breaking new launches, there were poor comparisons to the release of Mortal Kombat X in April 2015. Mortal Kombat X was a strong launch last year — its April 2015 sales exceeded that of the entirety of all April 2016 new launches by 18 percent.”

So nothing got gamers quite as excited for this April as Mortal Kombat did last year. Additionally, March 2016 sales didn’t carry their momentum through to the following month.

“Given the strength of March 2016 launches and how they lifted sales over March 2015, it was surprising to see the dollar sales performance drop by 16 percent compared to sales of March launches last April,” said Callahan.

When it comes to hardware, however, the industry is still seeing a decline due to the plummeting average sale price of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (even if these are more profitable because of these systems cost less to make than at launch).

“Hardware sales declined 23 percent compared to April 2015, with the majority of the decline due to a 19 percent or $30.4 million decline in console hardware sales,” said Callahan. “Compared to last year, dollar spending for [current-generation] consoles decreased by 15 percent with an over 70 percent decline in [last-generation] consoles. Portables also dropped by $11.3 million in sales over last April.”

At the same time, this is not a red alert for console gaming. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are still trending 40 percent higher than the cumulative sales after the same 30 month period compared to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

NPD only tracks a small part of a larger gaming industry. It doesn’t include digital games, hardware sold outside of the U.S., or second-hand shops. That means it is best to use this data as a snapshot of a massive, more dynamic market.

On to the charts.

Software
Dark Souls III (PS4, Xbox One)
Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
MLB 16: The Show (PS4, PS3)
Tom Clancy’s The Division (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
Minecraft (Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3)
Quantum Break (Xbox One)
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
Star Fox: Zero (Wii U)
Ratchet & Clank is the big surprise here. It’s a PS4 exclusive, and it rose right to the top of the charts unlike any game in the series ever has.

“Ratchet & Clank had the best launch of any game in the Ratchet & Clank franchise when adjusting for the number of days sold in the data month, with sales recapturing success not seen for the franchise since the height of the PlayStation 2 era,” said Callahan.

With Ratchet selling so well, you can imagine that Sony is probably kicking itself for not having more big, blockbuster releases that harken back to the days of the PS2. The company hasn’t had a lot of first-party exclusives, but when it does, these games sell very well.

Of course, Dark Souls III was the top-seller for the month. You can see that the series is nearly growing exponentially.

“The launch of Dark Souls III marked the strongest launch in the franchise’s history,” said Callahan. “Sales for Dark Souls III nearly doubled that of its predecessor, Dark Souls II, when adjusted for days in the market.”

Other noteworthy releases for April include time-bending action game Quantum Break, which didn’t light the world on fire. It was the top Xbox One exclusive, but it couldn’t outperform Ratchet & Clank.

Another exclusive, Wii U’s space shooter Star Fox: Zero, also slipped onto the list at No. 10. That’s impressive considering Nintendo’s console has a far smaller audience. If you only look at games on a SKU-basis (meaning you separate them by platform and by standard and collector’s variations), Star Fox: Zero was the No. 5 best-selling game of the month. By that same measure, the 3DS role-playing adventure Bravely Second was No. 9.

Hardware
NPD doesn’t disclose hardware data publicly, but we’ve reached out to the console manufacturers about what they want to share.

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all declined to comment on the performance of their hardware.

But while no one is saying how each system sold, it’s clear that Sony and Microsoft are selling fewer consoles. This continues to create a strong case for the possible release of upgraded systems.

Gamers are repeatedly hearing rumors for the PlayStation 4 Neo, which is allegedly a faster, more powerful PS4 that can play some 4K content. Microsoft has previously talked about something similar, and separate rumors claim it is exploring the idea as well.

The benefit of new PS4 and Xbox One hardware is that Sony and Microsoft could potentially sell new systems for $400 again as opposed to the $300-to-$350 range new systems are selling for now. That price increase could help repair the dipping hardware numbers by boosting the average sale price and by getting the most dedicated gamers to spend $400 to upgrade.

Venturebeat.com wrote:Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart powered the gaming industry in the United States to another upswing in spending last month.

U.S. consumers spent $636 million on video games and related hardware and products in April, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s up 10 percent year-over-year from $577 million. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild both powered Nintendo to huge sales, but Persona 5 also contributed heavily to April’s positive results.

April results

Total: $636 million (up 10 percent from $577 million in April 2016)
Hardware: $195 million (up 37 percent from $142 million)
Console software: $304 million (up 6 percent from $287 million)
PC software: $11 million (down 57 percent from $27 million)
Accessories: $125 million (up 4 percent from $121 million)
“Total video game spending, which includes hardware, software and accessories, grew 10 percent versus year ago to $636 million, the first time the industry has experienced two months of consecutive growth since November 2015,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “The Nintendo Switch led hardware sales, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Persona 5, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, drove software sales.”

Nintendo’s return to form with the Switch indicates that the company’s failed Wii U was one of the primary reasons game spending has seen year-over-year declines so consistently over the last two years. With a successful third console on the market, it’s possible that U.S. game revenues could get back on a path for growth — at least as far as physical and digital sales for consoles are concerned.

And this could mean better sales for new games.

Software

NPD tracks software sales physically and digitally, but it doesn’t have the full digital picture. It only has certain publishers on certain platforms. Notable omissions include Nintendo first-party sales through its own digital store.

Overall

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*
Persona 5*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
MLB 17: The Show
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Grand Theft Auto V
Mass Effect: Andromeda
NBA 2K17
Overwatch**
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Lego City Undercover
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix
Lego Worlds
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Battlefield 1
For Honor
Nier: Automata
Minecraft
*Does not include digital sales
**Blizzard launcher sales not includes

Big games from Japan have done blockbuster numbers in the U.S. all year long, and this trend continued in April.

“Video game software dollar sales grew 6 percent versus year ago to $304 million, driven by the launches of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Persona 5, along with a strong second month for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” said Piscatella. “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the month’s top-selling title. As a property, Mario Kart is the all-time best-selling racing franchise in the U.S.”

Zelda and Mario Kart will likely chart well all year as more people get their hands on a Switch, and Nintendo isn’t the only company benefiting from the popularity of the Switch.

“Seven different publishers produced the top 10 April titles for the Nintendo Switch,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo published three of the top 10, while Warner Bros. Interactive, Sega, Konami, Nicalis, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard all published titles for the Nintendo Switch that appear in April’s top 10.”

Nintendo consoles historically aren’t great for third-party publishers (just look at the best-selling 3DS games above), but the Switch — with its portable hybrid design — may give gamers a reason to consider the Nintendo system over the competing systems for multiplatform games. We’ll see if that pans out.

But it’s not all about Nintendo. Sega’s and Atlus’s Persona series has clearly penetrated the mainstream.

“Persona 5 experienced the strongest debut month for any title in Persona franchise history, with packaged dollar sales five times that of the previous best-selling debut, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4,” said Piscatella.

Ubisoft’s mammoth 2017 also continues. The publisher’s Wildlands ended April in the top 5 once again, and that makes it the best-selling game of the year so far. For Honor, the company’s sword-fighting online game, is the No. 2 best-selling games in 2017.

Finally, you may have noticed that 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II outsold Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. That’s because you can now play the Xbox 360 version on the Xbox One, and that juiced the game’s sales.

Now, here are the best-selling games for each system in April:

Xbox One

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Grand Theft Auto 5
Overwatch
Forza Horizon 3
NBA 2K17
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Lego Worlds
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
For Honor
PlayStation 4

Persona 5*
MLB 17: The Show
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Horizon Zero Dawn
Grand Theft Auto V
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix
Mass Effect: Andromeda
NBA 2K17
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Overatch
Nintendo Switch (no digital sales)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Lego City Undercover
1-2 Switch
Puyo Puyo Tetris
Super Bomberman R
The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+
Just Dance 2017
Skylanders Imgainators
3DS and Vita

Mario Sports Superstars
Pokémon Sun
Pokémon Moon
Super Mario Maker
Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World
Super Smash Bros.
Mario Kart 7
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Super Mario 3D Land
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Best selling games of 2017 through April

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
For Honor
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Horizon Zero Dawn
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Grand Theft Auto V
NBA 2K17
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
MLB 17: The Show
Hardware

The Nintendo Switch outsold PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for the second month in a row. Nintendo still seems like it is selling every Switch it makes as soon as they hit retail, with most people reporting that they still haven’t seen one on store shelves.

“Hardware spending jumped 37 percent compared to April 2016, to $195 million,” said Piscatella. “The Nintendo Switch was the catalyst for this growth with sales exceeding 280,000 units. The industry drove the highest April hardware dollar sales since April 2011.”

But Nintendo actually had the No. 2 best-selling system in April as well.

“Nintendo owned the top 2 platforms in unit sales for the month, with the Nintendo Switch at No. 1, followed by NES Classic,” said Piscatella.

Accessories

Nintendo’s Pro Controller was the No. 1 selling gamepad in April, and it helped push sales of that category up year-over-year.

“Gamepad sales grew 9 percent in April compared to a year ago,” said Piscatella. “Total spend on Accessories and Gamecards** grew 4 percent compared to last year to $126 million.”