The console market has been seeing plenty of volatility, with numbers jumping up or down in response to marketing initiatives, seasonal changes, and perhaps sunspots. The report from NPD for March 2015’s US retail sales paints a bleak picture for hardware, with console sales off 21 percent from March 2014. “Hardware unit sales decreased by 9 percent, and with average prices down 13 percent across all platforms, dollar sales decreased by 21 percent,” explained NPD’s Liam Callahan. Still, in this 17th month of sales for Xbox One and PS4, their combined unit sales are more than 50 percent ahead of their previous generation.

The hardware drag pulled down overall sales for the month, which at $963.7 million were off 6% from March 2014’s $1.02 billion. Software sales dropped 3 percent (down to $395.4 million from $405.6 million), while accessories showed a nice 15 percent rise (up to $257.2 million from $223.9 million), offsetting some of the decline overall.

Looking more closely at the hardware numbers, NPD revealed that with the introduction of the New 3DS XL, portable consoles actually increased in sales, while general console sales looked even worse. “Console hardware was the primary culprit responsible for the March 2015 sales decline, with a 29 percent, or $104 million decrease, in spending while portable hardware rose by 71 percent over last year,” explained Callahan.

Software’s decline of 3 percent reflected a strong enough growth of the Xbox One and PS4 installed base to offset most of the continuing sharp decline in sales for Xbox 360 and PS3 software. “A bright light in the portable space was the increase in 3DS software sales of over 20 percent from March 2014,” Callahan noted.

The continuing strength of the PS4 was called out by the success of Bloodborne. “The launch of Bloodborne ranked as second overall in software sales this month, but also has the second highest sales for the debut month of a first-party game on the PS4, after inFamous: Second Son, in March 2014,” Callahan said.

Sony added some more details to NPD’s information with this statement: “We are truly honored PlayStation 4 is the top selling console and #1 in software sales again according to NPD sales data for March 2015. PS4 remains the cumulative sales leader both globally and in the United States and we want to thank gamers worldwide for their ongoing support,” said the company.

Sony also noted the following highlights for March:

 

  • Four out of the five top selling software SKU’s in March were for PlayStation 4 according to NPD.
  • Gamers in the US spent more than 356 million hours playing PS4 games in March.
  • March was the strongest month for PlayStation Store in 2015, led by PlayStation Plus, Bloodborne and Battlefield Hardline.

Nintendo also released a statement, noting that for the 3DS line, “total hardware sales in 2015 have increased by nearly 80 percent over sales during the first three months of 2014,” according to the company. This was no doubt due to the introduction of the New 3DS XL. Nintendo also noted that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D has now sold more than 730,000 total units, and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS has now sold more than 2.4 million units. The Wii U is also showing improvement, according to Nintendo: “Total Wii U hardware sales in 2015 have increased by more than 20% over sales during the first three months of 2014.”

March 2015 Top 10 Games (New physical retail, US)

1. Battlefield Hardline (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts
2. Bloodborne (PS4)** Sony
3. Grand Theft Auto V (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)** Take 2 Interactive
4. Mario Party 10 (NWU)** Nintendo
5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)** Activision Blizzard
6. MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS3)** Sony
7. Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4) Microsoft / Sony
8. NBA 2K15 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC) Take 2 Interactive
9. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4, XBO)** Take 2 Interactive
10. Final Fantasy: Type O HD (PS4, XBO)** Square Enix Inc

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)