December 2013 & annual 2013 US video game retail / e-tail sales
Analysis by Liam Callahan - NPD Group
Overall
These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50 percent of the total consumer spend on games. When taking into account our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in December such as used and rentals at $249 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including micro-transactions, subscriptions, mobile apps and the consumer spend on social network games at $815 million, the total consumer spend in December is just under $2.4 billion.
- NPDs final assessment of the consumer spend in these areas outside of new physical retail sales will be reported in February in its Q4 2013 Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report.
December 2013 marks the fifth month in a row for positive combined physical video game sales across hardware, software, and accessories. Much like last month, increases in hardware and accessory spending, up 28% and 4% respectively, offset declines in software leading to a 2% increase over December 2012.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - December 2013 / Annual 2013
Dec. 2013: 5-week month; Reporting Period 12/1/13 through 1/4/14
Dollar Sales | Dec'12 | Dec'13 | CHG | Annual 2012 | Annual 2013 | CHG |
Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) | $3.21B | $3.28B | 0,02 | $13.27B | $12.97B | -0,02 |
Video Games Hardware | $1.07B | $1.37B | 0,28 | $4.04B | $4.26B | 0,05 |
Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) | $1.54B | $1.28B | -0,17 | $6.71B | $6.12B | 0,09 |
Video Games Accessories | $605M | $631M | 0,04 | $2.51B | $2.60B | 0,03 |
Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) | $1.58B | $1.31B | -0,17 | $7.09B | $6.34B | -0,11 |
| December 2013 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, XBO, PS4, NWU, PC)** | 1 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Battlefield 4 (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC) | 2 | Electronic Arts |
| Just Dance 2014 (WII, 360, NWU, XBO, PS3, PS4)** | 3 | Ubisoft |
| Madden NFL 25 (360, XBO, PS3, PS4) | 4 | Electronic Arts |
| NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC)** | 5 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, NWU, PC)** | 6 | Ubisoft |
| Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)** | 7 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, PS3, 3DS, XBO, PS4, NWU, PSV, PC) | 8 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| FIFA 14 (360, PS4, XBO, PS3, PSV) | 9 | Electronic Arts |
| Skylanders SWAP Force (WII, 360, PS3, NWU, 3DS, XBO, PS4)** | 10 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Annual 2013 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)** | 1 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, XBO, PS4, PC, NWU)** | 2 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Madden NFL 25 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO) | 3 | Electronic Arts |
| Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, XBO, PS4, PC) | 4 | Electronic Arts |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, NWU, PC)** | 5 | Ubisoft |
| NBA 2K14 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC)** | 6 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, NWU, PC)** | 7 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Just Dance 2014 (WII, 360, NWU, XBO, PS3, PS4)** | 8 | Ubisoft |
| Minecraft (360) | 9 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| Disney Infinity (360, WII, PS3, NWU, 3DS) | 10 | Disney Interactive Studios |
Hardware
Increases in December hardware sales were caused by continued strong sales of the new Xbox One and PS4, driving console hardware sales up over 50% compared to December 2012.
Nintendo's 3DS topped overall hardware sales for December 2013 and for 2013 as a whole; however, with its $499.99 price point, the Xbox One led annual hardware sales on a dollars basis.
The newest consoles from Microsoft and Sony are off to a tremendous start. Xbox One led consoles sales in December, while PS4's two-month total makes it the best selling console during the two-month launch window.
Hardware sales of the Wii U were also positive with December 2013 marking its highest month for unit sales month so far.
Part of the reason for the 17% decline in video game software sales was the poor performance of November launches in December 2013. Specifically, there was a 27% dollar decline for sales of November 2013 launches in December 2013, compared to November 2012 launches in December 2012. Additionally, due to the success of December 2012 hit, Far Cry 3, December 2013 launches were down 85% compared to those games launching in December 2012.
Annual entertainment software sales declined 11% in 2013 vs. 2012, with one factor being the 27% drop in the number of new SKUs released this year versus last. However, those SKUs that were launches generated 34% more dollars and 30% more units per SKU than those launched in 2012.
Grand Theft Auto V ranked as the top game in 2013 (based on units sold), and after four months of sales is within striking distance of surpassing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the highest selling game within the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
With the success of Grand Theft Auto V, the launch of Bioshock Infinite, as well as the continued popularity of the NBA 2K franchise, Take 2 Interactive was the top video game software publisher for 2013.
For the fifth year in a row, the standard 360 version of Call of Duty was the top-selling SKU for December.
Several games made the 2013 video game top 10 ranking on a SKU-basis, which do not make the ranking when rolling up SKUs across platforms due to their platform exclusivity: 3DS POKEMON X, 3DS POKEMON Y, and PS3 THE LAST OF US.
When looking at December 2013 video game sales for a SKU ranking, 360 MINECRAFT ranks in the top 10.
Accessories
Gamepads, Video Game Point and Subscription Cards, and Interactive Gaming Toys all experienced double-digit dollar growth over December 2012, fueling 4% accessory category growth. These were also the top 3 accessory types in 2013 based on revenue, helping to increase 2013 accessory sales by 3%.
December 2013 marked the best month ever for Video Game point and subscription cards, both in terms of units and dollars.
Despite competition from Disney Infinity, December 2013 was the best month ever for Skylanders Interactive Gaming Toy sales on a dollar basis. In 2013, Interactive Gaming Toys, as a whole, grew 70% over 2012.