The Xbox One may have outsold the PlayStation 4 in July 2016, but it was the 3DS that took home top spot overall for systems (2DS sold 78,000 units, 3DS sales rose 18%). The NPD says this victory for the 3DS is due to the 2DS price drop and the launch of Monster Hunter: Generations, which was the #1 new release for July. However, Generations sold 52% fewer dollars than last July’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour.
Total industry sales for July 2016 were $480.1 million, down from July 2015’s $559.1 million. For a breakdown, hardware fell 30% to $141.3 million, console software fell 5% to $210.3 million, PC game software fell 12% to $11.4 million, and accessories fell 5% to $117.1 million.
NPD analyst Sam Naji talked about the slow month:
Lack of strong new titles for the month resulted with poor comparison with last July’s Batman: Arkham Knight with consumers spending 14 percent less year-on-year on hardware, software and accessories, however the release of Monster Hunter: Generations and the price drop for the 2DS helped to bolster spending for 3DS and 2DS hardware by 44 percent.
Not only did the top 10 games for July 2016 generate 21% fewer dollar sales than July 2015’s, but hardware spending “declined by 30 percent versus last July due to a 10 percent decline in unit sales and a 22 percent decline in the average price. Spending on portables increased by 23 percent, but this was offset by a 37 percent decline in spending for consoles.”
Despite the drop for consoles, the combined total hardware sales of the PS4 and Xbox One after 33 months “exceed the sales of their predecessors by 41 percent at the same point of their lifecycles.”
Here’s the top 10 best-selling games of July 2016 in the United States through physical and digital retailers, keeping in mind that digital sales weren’t tracked for Monster Hunter: Generations, Minecraft, or Doom, and Battle.net sales weren’t included for Overwatch:
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Overwatch
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Monster Hunter: Generations
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Minecraft
- NBA 2K16
- Doom
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Rainbow Six: Siege
Do you think No Man’s Sky will outsell Madden NFL 17 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided this month?
[Source: Games Industry, Venture Beat]
