The NPD Group recently reported its overall numbers for the game industry for January, with combined video game sales for the month declining by a slight five percent for the month. Consider it the dust settling after the big holiday releases from the previous months.
Hardware sales, specifically the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, saw a decline of eight percent, but did show a 96 share of console hardware growth for the start of the year. Chances are, both consoles, along with Nintendo’s planned NX console, will see even greater exposure as the months roll on.
It was a slow month for game releases, with only a couple, like the Nintendo 3DS adventure Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam and WB Games’ Lego Marvel’s Avengers, getting major exposure. That led to a decline of ten percent in physical software sales versus the previous month, when the first-person action game Dying Light was all the rage. Things will likely pick up in February, with major releases like Far Cry: Primal and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 set to arrive.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III held onto its firm lead as the top seller for the month, and following close behind in second place was Grand Theft Auto V, which continued to be a huge draw. NBA 2K16, Star Wars: Battlefront and Fallout 4 round out the top five.
While most of the report noted slight drop-offs, there is one area that saw an increase for the month: accessories. Video game point and subscription cards, along with headsets and controllers, managed to see a jump by 14 percent for the month. Cards alone jumped six percent, indicating that digital sales were still of great interest to the gaming audience, while controllers jumped by 26 percent and headphones rose 44 percent.
So, the numbers as a whole show a small drop-off that comes from the post-holidays, but that’s not entirely unexpected. The year is just getting started, and we’re bound to see things pick up again over the next few months.
