GTA V expected to double September NPD sales year-over-year
Record-breaking debut of Rockstar's latest pushes NPD up for the first time since January, according to Wedbush
The industry has been limping all year, but the record-breaking debut of Grand Theft Auto V has healed the wound, according to NPD estimates released by Wedbush Securities. Console and handheld software sales are expected to total $910 million, up 83 percent year-over-year, driven primarily by GTA V's release. GTA V, EA Sports' FIFA 14, and 2K Sports' NBA 2K14 are estimated to be the top three in software sales, with additional sales coming from August's releases of Madden 25 and Disney Infinity.
Wedbush also believes that October's sales will stay up due to GTA's continuing performance, the first week sales of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and the release of Battlefield 4.
In hardware, sales of the Wii U are estimated to total 55,000 units, up 79 percent month-over-month, but still not great for Nintendo's console. The improvement in sales is due to the price cut on the Deluxe set and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD bundle. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be down in sales year-over-year, sitting at 145,000 units and 175,000 respectively. Hardware price cuts are not expected to improve demand for current-gen consoles this year, Michael Pachter said.
The NPD Group will release September sales numbers on Thursday, October 17.