Video Games retail / e-tail sales in U.S. December and annual 2014
For December, overall trends across hardware, software and accessories were relatively stable, a decline of 1 percent with the declines in software and hardware stabilized by the growth in accessories.
For 2014, a modest 1% increase in overall sales was fueled almost entirely by the $838 million increase in hardware sales, offsetting the $808 million decline in software, however. Accessories grew by $132MM, leading to the 1% growth in overall retail sales.
Keep in mind that the results for December and 2014 as a whole show the console space is going through a period of two transitions: One being a generational transition from seventh generation to eighth generation consoles and second, a format transition as console gamers become more comfortable with downloading games and what is being offered digitally.
NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - December 2014/Annual 2014
Dec: 5-week month; Reporting Period 11/30/14 through 1/3/15
Dollar Sales | Dec'13 | Dec'14 | CHG | Annual 2013 | Annual 2014 | CHG |
Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) | $3.28B | $3.25B | -1% | $12.94B | $13.10B | 1% |
Video Games Hardware | $1.37B | $1.31B | -4% | $4.24B | $5.07B | 20% |
Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) | $1.28B | $1.25B | -2% | $6.11B | $5.30B | -13% |
Video Games Accessories | $630.6M | $681.2M | 8% | $2.59B | $2.73B | 5% |
Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) | $1.31B | $1.28B | -2% | $6.33B | $5.47B | -14% |
Hardware
After 14 months on the market, cumulative sales of PS4 and Xbox One exceed the Xbox 360 and PS3 cumulative 14 month total by 65 percent.
Bundles were a major driver of hardware sales this December compared to last with 71 percent of hardware unit sales stemming from Bundles including software, which compares to 32 percent of hardware sales last December.
While hardware sales decreased by 4 percent in December 2014 versus the year prior, eighth generation sales improved by 13 percent. This is remarkable considering the comparison to the best launch in U.S. history of any console with the PS4 and second best launch with the Xbox One.
Software
With the growth in install bases across eighth generation consoles, software this December versus last December grew by 70 percent with each console posting strong double digit growth. Across 2014, eighth generation console software sales rose by $1.7 billion.
In contrast, seventh generation software sales declined by 33 percent in December with portable sales also decreasing 16 percent. These combined to total a $2.5 billion decrease in sales in 2014 versus 2013.
While overall software sales dipped by 2 percent in December, top 10 represented the same percentage of unit sales as last December at 36 percent of all units sold in the month with only 1 percent fewer units.
Part of the 13 percent decline in entertainment software sales can be explained by 10 percent fewer new SKUs that were launched in 2014 compared to 2013.
3DS Pokemon Omega Ruby and 3DS Pokemon Alpha Sapphire would make the top ten software list when ranked on an SKU basis rather than a title basis.
| December 2014 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC)** | 1 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Grand Theft Auto V (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)** | 2 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Madden NFL 15 (360, XBO, PS4, PS3)** | 3 | Electronic Arts |
| Super Smash Bros.(NWU, 3DS)** | 4 | Nintendo |
| NBA 2K15 (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC) | 5 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Minecraft (360, XBO, PS3, PS4) | 6 | Microsoft (Corp) / Sony (Corp) |
| Far Cry 4 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC)** | 7 | Ubisoft |
| Just Dance 2015 (Wii, 360, NWU, XBO, PS4, PS3) | 8 | Ubisoft |
| Destiny (XBO, 360, PS4, PS3)** | 9 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| FIFA 15 (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, Wii, 3DS, PSV)** | 10 | Electronic Arts |
| Annual 2014 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) | Rank | Publisher |
| Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (360, XBO, PS4, PS3, PC)** | 1 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Madden NFL 15 (360, PS4, XBO, PS3)** | 2 | Electronic Arts |
| Destiny (XBO, PS4, 360, PS3)** | 3 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3)** | 4 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Minecraft (360, PS3, XBO, PS4) | 5 | Microsoft (Corp) / Sony (Corp) |
| Super Smash Bros.(3DS, NWU)** | 6 | Nintendo |
| NBA 2K15 (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC) | 7 | Take 2 Interactive (Corp) |
| Watch Dogs (PS4, XBO, 360, PS3, PC, NWU)** | 8 | Ubisoft |
| FIFA 15 (360, PS4, XBO, PS3, Wii, 3DS, PSV)** | 9 | Electronic Arts |
| Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, XBO, PS4, NWU, PC)** | 10 | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
Accessories
For December, overall accessory sales increased by 8 percent in dollar sales, driven growth in by Interactive Gamine Toys, Video game point and subscription cards, and headphones / headsets.
In 2014, there was a 5 percent increase accessory sales. The drivers of growth were similar to that seen in December, with the additional of gamepads helping growth with an increase of 12 percent in dollar sales.
On a unit basis, interactive gaming toys remained the top accessory type for 2014, and also saw an increase of 5 percent in dollar sales for the year.