NPD has released its monthly video game industry sales report for August 2016, and while hardware sales increased thanks to the new Xbox One S, total hardware spending saw a decline of six percent compared to last year. Despite a successful launch of the Xbox One S and continued spending growth for the Nintendo 3DS, it was not enough to meet or exceed 2015 sales for the same time period. August saw a decline in spending on the PS4, Wii U and older consoles, compounded by a seven percent decline in the ARP for consoles and a 22 percent decline in the ARP for portables.
Xbox One S was clearly the star of August, contributing nearly a third of all hardware sales with the console and its controller was the top-selling gamepad at 79,000 units. “The release of the Xbox One S helped to generate a 37 percent growth in unit sales and a 25 percent growth in dollar revenue for the Xbox One brand,” explained NPD’s video game industry analyst, Sam Naji. “In its first month on the market, the Xbox One S 2TB White was the second-best selling hardware SKU, despite lacking a bundled title.”
As for video games, Madden NFL 17 was the top-selling title, despite earning three percent less than its predecessor, Madden NFL 16. Overall spending on software, hardware and accessories grew by one percent compared to August last year. “The release of strong new titles such as Madden NFL 17, No Man’s Sky and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided bolstered console software dollar sales by eight percent and this had helped to offset losses in spending elsewhere,” Naji said in the report.
The NPD’s top 10 best-selling games for August 2016 are:
- Madden NFL 17
- No Man’s Sky*
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Overwatch*
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Minecraft*
- Destiny: The Taken King
Asterisks indicate that digital sales were not accounted for (or purchases made on Battle.net, in the case of Overwatch).
New titles, including No Man’s Sky and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided brought in almost three times the amount to last year’s new releases, Gears of War Ultimate Edition and the PS4 exclusive, Until Dawn.
Total accessory spending for the month (including gift cards and memberships like Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus) reached $107 million, a decline of five percent compared to August 2015. Amazingly, the Xbox One S white controller outsold the PS4 DualShock wireless black controller in August, which had been the best-selling gamepad for some time. Overall, sales for game cards, headsets/headphones and gamepads decreased, while interactive gaming toys accessory spending increased by 10 percent.
