The NPD Group has released its latest sales numbers for video games in April 2016, and while figures were down, a few franchises proved to be big hits.
NPD’s Liam Callahan noted, “Overall trends (hardware, new physical software and accessories) were down 15 percent, or $88.5 million compared to April 2015 due to a $41.66 million decline in hardware and a $52.8 million decline in software, with the $5.9 million growth in accessories unable to offset these losses.”
He also noted a slight drop in physical software sales for the month, due to poor comparisons to the previous year’s game releases. However, things aren’t all on the down side, as both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 managed to trend 40 percent higher in cumulative sales after 30 months in the market, compared to previous consoles.
New releases did quite well for the month, too. Sony’s Ratchet and Clank, which debuted mid-month for PlayStation 4, “had the best launch of any game in the Ratchet and Clank franchise when adjusting for the number of days sold in the data month, with sales recapturing success not seen for the franchise since the height of the PlayStation 2 era,” noted Callahan.
But the month belonged to Bandai Namco’s Dark Souls III, the tough-as-nails action game that became a big hit with fans. “The launch of Dark Souls III marked the strongest launch in the franchise’s history,” said Callahan. “Sales for Dark Souls III nearly doubled that of its predecessor, Dark Souls II, when adjusted for days in the market.”
The top ten sellers for the month also included holdovers from March, such as the PlayStation 4 sports game MLB: The Show 16; Tom Clancy’s The Division; and Grand Theft Auto V. Microsoft’s heavily hyped action adventure, Quantum Break, firmly made the seventh place spot.
As for accessories, overall sales grew four percent over the previous year, mainly with Video Game Points and Subscription Cards, according to Callahan. Gamepads and headphones also performed very well for the month.
As interesting as April’s numbers have been, May will tell a much bigger story, as several blockbusters are making their debut this month. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End arrived earlier this week for PlayStation 4 with thunderous critical acclaim and social media buzz, while Bethesda’s reboot of its classic shooter, Doom, hit shelves today and is already a big hit with fans. Other highly anticipated games, such as Homefront: The Revolution, Overwatch and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants In Manhattan are just days away from release.
