NPD: Game sales fall 16% in August
PHYSICAL: Hardware sales off 25%, software down 15%
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 9/10/2009
SEPT. 10 | PHYSICAL: Videogame sales suffered its sixth consecutive monthly decline in August, falling 16% over the same month last year to $908.72 million, according to the NPD Group.
Hardware sales alone dropped 25% to $297.6 million. Software sales decreased 15% to $470.32 million. Year-to-date, the entire business is off 14% to $9.07 billion.
With its $100 price chop to $299 in September, the PlayStation 3 is delivering needed momentum to the industry, according to NPD. But September sales won’t be released by NPD until October.
Additionally, there are expectations that Nintendo will likewise drop its $250 tag on the Wii, in response to its own falling sales and the new pricing competition. Recent Xbox price reductions also are being viewed favorably.
“The price cuts implemented on the PS3 and 360 hardware already made an impact on unit sales,” said NPD analyst Frazier. “It will be interesting to see the full impact of the new price points on September sales.… There is a lot of speculation about Wii and whether Nintendo will take a price cut as sales comps to last year show declines.”
Game marketers do have a lot of ground to make up if the industry hopes to break even with its record-setting 2008 revenue haul.
“The back four months of the year would have to be up 14% in aggregate for 2009 to come in flat in comparison to 2008 sales,” said Frazier.
For the month, the Wii was the top console as always, selling 277,400 units. That was followed by the Xbox 360 at 215,400 and the PS3 at 210,000.
In software, Madden NFL 10 was August’s best title, selling nearly 1.9 million units across its five SKUs.
Other top titles for the month were Wii Sports Resort, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Wii Fit.
The September launches of Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 aren’t yet energizing the once red hot music/dance category. The genre’s sales are off 46% year-to-date, noted NPD, with lower prices a factor in the decline.
“This is still the third best-selling genre for the year, after general action and sports,” said Frazier.
