Video Games retail / e-tail sales in U.S. August 2014
Analysis from The NPD Group's Liam Callahan
Overall new physical retail sales (hardware, software, and accessories) increased by 8 percent in August 2014 over August 2013 and followed a similar pattern of prior months with explosive hardware growth driven by eighth generation consoles offsetting declines in software.
Dollar Sales | Aug'13 | Aug'14 | CHG |
Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) | $521.1M | $561.3M | 8% |
Video Games Hardware | $90.8M | $196.2M | 116% |
Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) | $293.4M | $231.6M | -21% |
Video Games Accessories | $136.8M | $133.5M | -2% |
Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) | $305M | $238.7M | -22% |
Hardware
In August 2014, overall hardware sales doubled from August 2013 caused by an over 200 percent increase in console hardware sales with continued strong sales of eighth generation hardware (which includes Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One).
Eighth generation hardware represented close to 70 percent of August 2014 hardware sales, which is the highest percentage share since the release of the Xbox One and PS4 back in November 2013.
When lining up sales of PS4 and Xbox One after ten months on the market, the combined PS4 and Xbox One hardware sales are greater by over 70 percent compared to their predecessors.
Software
Madden NFL 15 was the number one game this month with consumers adopting eighth generation software over seventh generation, leading to growth over last August's Madden NFL 25 - a trend which will hopefully become widespread and lead to software growth as we move towards the holidays.
New launches in August 2014 declined 41 percent compared to new launch performance in August 2013 due to poor comparisons to August 2013 launches like Saints Row IV, Disney Infinity, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Eight out of the top ten games in August were new launches compared to only 3 in August 2014.
Deep declines in seventh generation software of 57 percent were not offset by growth in eighth generation software, leading to a net decrease of console software sales of $47 million.
| August 2014 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Madden NFL 15 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3)** | 1 | Electronic Arts |
| Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)** | 2 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Minecraft (360, PS3) | 3 | Microsoft (Corp) / Sony (Corp) |
| The Last of Us (PS4, PS3)** | 4 | Sony (Corp) |
| Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC, NWU)** | 5 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Lego Marvel Super Heroes (360, PS3, NWU, PS4, 3DS, NDS, XBO, PSV, PC) | 6 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
| Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (360, PS3, PS4, XBO) | 7 | Electronic Arts |
| Watch Dogs (PS4, 360, PS3, XBO, PC)** | 8 | Ubisoft |
| Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC) | 9 | Electronic Arts |
| The LEGO Movie Videogame (360, 3DS, PS3, NWU, PS4, XBO, PSV) | 10 | Warner Bros. Interactive |
Accessories
Despite a 50 percent increase in Gamepad sales, overall accessory sales declined slightly due to a poor comparison to August 2013 when Disney Infinity launched and boosted Interactive Gaming Toy spending for the month. Therefore, Interactive Gaming Toy spending declined in August 2014, leading to the 2 percent overall decline in accessory sales.