Video Games retail / e-tail sales in U.S. July 2015
Overall video game sales across hardware, new physical software, and accessories rose by 5 percent driven by modest hardware growth and double-digit accessory growth as software sales remained flat compared to last July.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - July 2015
4-week month; Reporting Period 07/05/15 through 08/01/15
| Dollar Sales | July'14 | July'15 | CHG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) | $513.3M | $541.9M | 6% |
| Video Games Hardware | $197.9M | $202.1M | 2% |
| Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) | $177.9M | $178.5M | 0% |
| Video Games Accessories | $137.5M | $161.3M | 17% |
| Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) | $185.3M | $184.4M | 0% |
Software
In July'15, LEGO: Jurassic World was the highest-selling game on a unit sales basis. However, if sales were included from hardware bundles, Batman: Arkham Knight would be the highest-selling game. Both games are published from Warner Bros. Interactive, which, driven by these games' success, is the top publisher year-to-date with an increase of over 200 percent in dollar sales.
Sales of new launches were down 3 percent in July'15, but May and June launches are comparing favorably to the performance of launches of last year, up a combined 20 percent. Though May/June launches are performing well this month, this was not enough to offset decreased sales from July releases and older games released outside of the May through July timeframe, which were down 6 percent.
Eighth generation software grew by 63 percent over July 2014 as seventh generation and portable software declined by 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively. These differing trends caused share to shift toward eighth generation share by 23 percentage points to total 65 percent of software dollar sales for July 2015.
The top new game for July'15 was Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Sales within the first data month for this new title exceeded the prior iteration, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, by close to 70 percent.
On a unit basis, 360 was the second-highest selling platform for new physical software sales after the PS4. Besides that, this was a light month for launches that typically favor eighth generation platforms; one reason for the stronger 360 sales may have been the news of backward compatibility for the Xbox One coming out of E3. Consumers may have felt safer buying 360 games knowing that they will be able to play them on Xbox One if they choose to upgrade.
| July 2015 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| LEGO: Jurassic World (360, 3DS, PS3, XBO, NWU, PS4, PSV) | 1 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4, XBO, PC)** | 2 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4) | 3 | Microsoft (Corp) / Sony (Corp) |
| Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)** | 4 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Rory Mcilroy PGA Tour (PS4, XBO) | 5 | Electronic Arts |
| The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (XBO, PS4, PC)** | 6 | Bethesda Softworks |
| Destiny (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)** | 7 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Mortal Kombat X (PS4, XBO)** | 8 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| FIFA 15 (PS4, 360,. XBO, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS)** | 9 | Electronic Arts |
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)** | 10 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
Hardware
Hardware sales rose a modest 2 percent over July 2014 as positive sales of eighth generation hardware and portables (up 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively) were depressed by the 56 percent decline in sales of seventh generation consoles.
After 21 months, combined Xbox One and PS4 hardware unit sales are close to 50 percent higher than the combined sales of Xbox 360 and PS3 after 21 months on the market.
Accessories
Video game accessory sales had double-digit growth of 17 percent in July'15 compared to July'14. The top 5 accessory types reported year-over-year growth, with interactive gaming toys gaining the most at 42 percent.
Video game point and subscription cards were the top-selling accessory type with a 20 percent increase in dollar sales versus July'14. This July also marked the best July on record for video game point and subscription cards.