After the good numbers posted in the extended January 2013 NPD period, things were less than cheery last month as February 2013 saw a 25% decline year over year in total industry sales. Looking at individual categories, hardware sold $244.2 million (down 36%), software was at $369.9 million (down 27%), and accessories did $213.9 million (down 3%).
Liam Callahan, NPD Industry Analyst, offered some further insight into the numbers, noting that even “though there was the same number of February launches in the top ten ranking as last February, collectively, February launches performed worse than last year with unit sales down 30 percent.”
Callahan didn’t mention how well the PlayStation 3 did in February, the Xbox 360 was #1 with 302,000 sold, though he did reveal that the PlayStation Vita showed an increase of 30% over the “typical January hardware lull.”
For individual titles, all of the big name games to launch in February 2013, even Aliens: Colonial Marines, managed to finish in the top 10, with Dead Space 3 beating them all:
*Numbers includes retail sales on all platforms, as well as collector’s editions, game of the year editions, and bundles, but not games bundled with hardware
- Dead Space 3
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
- Crysis 3
- NBA 2K13
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
- Aliens: Colonial Marines
- Just Dance 4
- Far Cry 3
- Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
- Madden NFL 13
While missing out on being a top seller last month, combined sales of the Skylanders Giants game and accessories topped $35 million, showing that this series isn’t slowing down, even with competition on the horizon.
What do you think about the numbers last month? Let us know in the comments below.
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