While the latest generation of consoles continues to sell, a lack of new launches in June left retail sales of video game software down 3 percent — and if you counted PC retail software sales in that, sales were down five percent over June 2013. Certainly some of that is due to increased sales of full digital downloads of console software, which according to Electronic Arts is ranging around 10 percent of their total sales for a given title. However, it’s also true that we’re seeing fewer new releases from the major publishers, as they strive to make each title published as big a success as possible. Meanwhile, DLC for old titles is coming out on a regular basis, and again that’s mostly not tracked in retail sales numbers.

“Nine out of the last ten months saw year-over-year growth in new physical video game sales,” said NPD’s Liam Callahan. Of course, he’s lumping in hardware revenue with the software revenue. “While the new hardware launches were a major factor in overall new physical video game growth, the start of this year-over-year growth began in September 2013, two months before the November 2013 launches of Xbox One and PS4. September and October 2013 year-over-year growth for overall new physical video game sales were driven by software increases.” Again, that’s tied to strong new releases.

The NPD figures don’t break out individual console sales, but it does give us an overall picture. ‘The 106 percent increase in hardware sales (vs. June 2013) was lifted entirely by console hardware sales, which were up by over 200 percent,” Callahan noted. “The strong sales performance of console hardware helped to offset the declines seen in portable hardware. Combined sales of Xbox One and PS4 are over 80 percent higher than the combined totals for Xbox 360 and PS3 — an indication of the strength of the start of this new console generation.”

In a separate statement, Microsoft noted that sales of the Xbox One for June more than doubled the previous month, but no numbers were provided. Sony just declared that the PS4 continued to be the first-place seller, which makes sense; otherwise you can bet Microsoft would have touted the Xbox One’s status as the number one selling console. The Wii U continues to be a distant third, as the enthusiasm over Mario Kart 8 wears off. Still, Nintendo noted in a release that Mario Kart 8 sold over 885,000 copies in the US during its first five weeks, and that Wii U sales were up 48 percent in June over June 2013’s Wii U numbers.

“In terms of software titles, many of the top games in June 2014 mirrored those of May 2014, with six of the same games ranking in the top ten,” said Callahan. “Three of these top ten games were also new launches from May 2014 (Watch Dogs, Mario Kart 8, and Wolfenstein: The New Order), indicating the weakness of new launches in June.”

Callahan noted some differences in the performance on new releases versus the same period last year. “While unit sales of launch titles in June 2014 declined 67 percent when compared to June 2013 launch title sales, there was a 47 percent increase in unit sales for games that launched across the second quarter of 2014 (April — June) when compared to the same time period in 2013,” Callahan said. “Sales of launch titles in June 2014 did not compare favorably to those launched in June 2013, which included the PS3 exclusive The Last of Us, along with Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and a retail version of Minecraft for the Xbox 360.”

“Console software increased by 6 percent, with portable software driving overall video game software declines,” Callahan said, rather ominously from the 3DS and PS Vita points of view.

June 2014 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
1. Watch Dogs (PS4, 360, XBO, PS3, PC)** Ubisoft
2. Mario Kart 8 (NWU) Nintendo
3. Minecraft (360, PS3) Microsoft / Sony
4. UFC (PS4, XBO) Electronic Arts
5. FIFA 14 (PS4, 360, XBO, PS3, PSV) Electronic Arts
6. NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC)** Take 2 Interactive
7. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC) Bethesda Softworks
8. Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, NWU, PC)** Activision Blizzard
9. Tomodachi Life (3DS) Nintendo
10. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)** Take 2 Interactive
**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)