Tretton: April software was a "one-two punch" for Sony
Software sales leap 410 per cent from last year, GTA IV and GT5 lead 2 million games surge
Sales of software for Sony's PlayStation 3 leapt 410 per cent in the US in April, with Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue leading a sales surge of over two million units.
"Clearly, the tremendous legacy of Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation, combined with the blockbuster launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue packed a one-two punch with consumers at retail this month," commented Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
The US boss was speaking following NPD sales data which revealed that the PlayStation 3 sold 187,000 units during the month, a year-on-year growth of 127 per cent.
Sony also revealed that approximately 6 million pieces of content have been downloaded by US users from the PlayStation Store in the last month, bringing lifetime to date downloads to 73 million. There are currently 3.9 million registered PlayStation Network accounts in the US.
Sales of the DualShock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3 have exceeded USD 10.9 million in April.
Over one million PlayStation Portable games were sold during the month, while hardware sales for the handheld were up 5.4 per cent.
According to Sony, for the year to date, the PlayStation brand has generated over USD 1.9 billion in revenue, up 17.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.