The NPD’s report for May 2016 has revealed that total retail sales in the United States were up 4% year-on-year to $528.6 million. By category, hardware fell by 10% to $137.7 million, software rose 19% to $253.2 million, and accessories dropped by 2% to $149 million.
Going further in-depth with hardware, the NPD confirmed that the PlayStation 4 was once again the top-selling console for May 2016, but, just like last month, Sony didn’t send out a statement celebrating the victory. NPD Analyst Liam Callahan said, “While hardware sales decreased by 10 percent overall, the majority of the decline in sales stemmed from portables, down $7.3 million and last-generation hardware, down $5 million. Current generation hardware unit sales were stable, but dollar sales decreased by 2 percent or $3 million due to a decrease in average price for these consoles.”
New software in May 2016 saw a 108% dollar sales increase over May 2015 thanks to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Doom, Overwatch, and Battleborn.
Callahan added:
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, was the best-selling game for May 2016 – a considerable feat given its platform exclusivity. Uncharted 4 also marked the best first month of sales for any game in the Uncharted series after Uncharted 3, which is remarkable given the fact that it launched during the holiday period (in November 2011).
Overwatch finished in third on the chart, but “when comparing Overwatch sales for days in the market, this title doubled the sales of Doom.” Doom, meanwhile, “had the best first month of sales for any game in the franchise when combining sales across platforms — exceeding sales of Doom 3’s launch on the PC in August 2004.”
Here’s the top 10 selling games for May 2016 (May 1 – 28), which totals retail sales across all systems and includes Collector’s Editions, GOTY Editions, and bundles, but not those bundled with hardware (sales by platform are ranked in brackets from highest-selling to least-selling):
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)
- Doom (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Overwatch (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Battleborn (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Minecraft (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- MLB The Show 16 (PS4, PS3)
- Dark Souls 3 (PS4, Xbox One)
Every game except for Black Ops 3 sold better on PS4 last month and, for the first time ever, the PS4 version of Minecraft was the top-seller.
[Source: Games Industry, Games Beat, GameSpot]
