Low October sales for games in US
Marginal growth for physical market despite big new releases from EA and Warner; full year will be flat at best, says NPD
Sales of physical product at US retail during October increased only marginally in October, despite the release of titles such as Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City.
According to sales monitor NPD, total video game sales were up 1 per cent from $1.03 billion to $1.05 billion, with hardware up 6 per cent to $295.6 million and accessories up 3 per cent to $621.3 million.
Total software sales for home consoles, portables and PC games were up 1 per cent to $649.5 million, in a month where seven of the top ten game titles were new releases.
EA's Battlefield 3 sold just under 2 million units in the region, although NPD admitted that it was unable to track digital sales of a game with a "strong heritage" of digital downloads. Warner's Batman: Arkham City sold 1.5 million units during the month.
But the weak growth now indicates to NPD that sales for the entire year will be flat at best, or down by 2 per cent on 2010. Analysts were expecting a larger increase of double digital sales growth.
The top ten best-selling games in the US during October follow:
- 01 Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
- 02 Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3)
- 03 NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC)
- 04 Rage (360, PS3, PC)
- 05 Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360)
- 06 Dark Souls (PS3, 360)
- 07 Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)
- 08 Forza Motorsport 4 (360)
- 09 Gears of War 3 (360)
- 10 FIFA Soccer 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, 3DS)