Video Games retail / e-tail sales in U.S. February 2015
All three categories of hardware, new physical software, and accessories experienced sales increases in February 2015 with combined sales of $956 million, up 8 percent over last February.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - February 2015
4-week month; Reporting Period 02/01/15 through 02/28/15
Dollar Sales | Feb'14 | Feb'15 | CHG |
Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) | $883.9M | $955.6M | 8% |
Video Games Hardware | $345.2M | $378.2M | 10% |
Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) | $317.6M | $338.9M | 7% |
Video Games Accessories | $221.1M | $238.5M | 8% |
Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) | $327.5M | $347.0M | 6% |
Hardware
Increased portable hardware sales of 153 percent versus February 2014 helped to propel the entire hardware category to a growth of 10 percent over February 2014.
Console hardware declined 5 percent, as gains in eighth generation console sales could not offset the 41 percent loss in dollar sales of seventh generation hardware.
Hardware unit sales for all eighth generation consoles increased year over year with high double-digit increases from January 2015, indicating increasing momentum for this new console generation.
The first 15 months the PS4 and the XBO combined unit sales have outsold the PS3 and the Xbox 360 combined 15 month totals by close to 60 percent.
Software
New Physical Video Game Software sales rose by 7 percent due to the 84 percent growth in eighth generation software, which offset declines in seventh generation software; portables sales were boosted 30 percent by the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
This is the first time since the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One that the top 10 console software SKUs were all from eighth generation consoles, a sign of consumer's further transition away from seventh generation consoles towards the new console generation.
February 2015 sales of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D marked a milestone for Zelda games: Majora's Mask was the best-selling portable Zelda game on a per-day basis within the data month for any portable platform in history.
New launches also helped boost February software sales with a 20 percent growth in dollar sales of February 2015 launches over February 2014, with five of the top ten games being new launches.
| February 2015 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)** | 1 | Nintendo |
| Evolve (XBO, PS4, PC) | 2 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Dying Light (PS4, XBO, PC) | 3 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)** | 4 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3)** | 5 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| NBA 2K15 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC) | 6 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Dragon Ball: Xenoverse (PS4, XBO, PS3, 360) | 7 | Bandai Namco Games (Corp) |
| Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4) | 8 | Microsoft (Corp) / Sony (Corp) |
| The Order: 1886 (PS4)** | 9 | Sony (Corp) |
| Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS)** | 10 | Capcom USA |
Accessories
Accessory sales rose 8 percent over February 2014 due to continued growth of video game point & subscription cards, and interactive gaming toys.
Interactive gaming toys rose 34 percent over last year, representing the majority of the accessory absolute dollar gain over last February.