Report: U.S. Game Sales Down 5% in May to $823.5 Million
Port Washington, N.Y. – Although the industry recorded its
third best-selling month of May on record, revenue was down 5% to $823.5
million, from the $865.7 million recorded last May, according to a report from
market research firm NPD Group. Game hardware sales were down 20% from last
May, to $241.5 million. Nintendo sold 334,800 Wii consoles, up 16% from a year
ago, compared to Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) 194,600 Xbox 360 consoles (up 11%) and Sony’s (NYSE: SNE)
154,500 PlayStation 3s (up 18%).
"Console hardware unit sales are, in
fact, flat to last year. Declines
in sales result from a lower average selling price this year compared to
last," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Sales of the Nintendo DS handheld
were down 40% in May, to 633,500, while Sony sold 59,400 PSP units, a decrease
of 41% from a year ago.
Game software sales actually posted a 4% gain in May,
reaching $450.4 million.
Take-Two Interactive’s (NASD: TTWO) "Red Dead Redemption"
was the top title with over 1.5 million units sold.
Other titles in the top ten
included Nintendo’s "Super Mario Galaxy 2" for the Wii, and THQ’s (NASD: THQI)
"UFC 2010: Undisputed."
Related Links:
http://www.npd.com
