US video game sales dipped last month despite huge demand for blockbuster sequels to Halo and Call of Duty, according to research firm NPD.
The findings suggest that sales of hardware and software sold by retailers were down by 11 per cent on the year in November and NPD linked the drop to weaker sales of titles outside the top five.
However don’t be too alarmed because total consumer spending across America for last month was estimated at a healthy $3.1 billion.
NPD said in a statement: “Despite an overall retail video game decline of 11 per cent, November had the smallest year-over-year decrease we have seen for dollar and unit sales so far this year.
“Overall entertainment software units decreased by 15 per cent, however, when comparing the performance of the top five titles from this year to last, we see a rise in unit sales of 5 per cent – games outside of the top five sold less, leading to overall declines.”
Also fewer releases this November compared to a year ago when Uncharted 3, Skyrim, Lego Harry Potter 5-7 and Modern Warfare 3 went on sale, may help explain the sales dip.
In other gaming news:
- Activision Publishing says Black Ops 2 – the first in the Call of Duty series to be part-set in the future – topped $1bn worth of global sales in its first 15 days of release.
- It said it had achieved the milestone a day quicker than the movie Avatar did in 2009 – albeit with fewer individual units sold.
- Microsoft says that more than 50 million games in its Xbox-exclusive Halo 4 franchise had now been sold.
- Based on the firm’s earlier announcements, that suggests about four million copies of Halo 4 were sold worldwide over its first 30 days.
- Nintendo says it sold 400,000 Wii Us and its bundled touchscreen controller during their first week of release in the US.
- That compares to 600,000 units of the original Wii console during its first eight days on the market in North America.
Via: BBC