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UK game sales down 17% in 2012, digital crosses £1 billion for first time

Mike Schramm — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:30:00 EST

The UK's Entertainment Retailers' Association has released its final report for 2012, and video game sales in that country are down more than 17 percent. Total entertainment sales, including music and movie sales, are down by about 12 percent. The culprit seems to be physical sales, with video game shares of that category dropping from 73 percent to 65.4 percent, and physical sales overall dropping by about 5 percent.

ERA Director General Kim Bayley actually cited the drops as a success for physical media, in that "despite digital's seemingly inexorable growth, the CD, the DVD and the physical games disc show incredible resilience." Bayley added that despite the shrinking numbers, "physical formats still account for three quarters of the entertainment market."

On the digital side, sales crossed a record of £1 billion for the first time ever. Digital video game sales rose by 7.7 percent, just slightly less than the overall growth trend in digital. For now, however, digital growth isn't enough to keep the industry at large growing. The ERA says the lack of growth was largely due to a "dearth of attractive releases" last summer, and the organization hopes to "offer the public a much better release slate in 2013."

UK game sales down 17% in 2012, digital crosses £1 billion for first time originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year

Jordan Mallory — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:07:00 EST

The numbers for February are in, and while hardware performance was better than it was in January, both hardware and software sales are seeing significant declines when compared to figures from February 2011.

With hardware and software combined, total new video-game sales rang up at $1.06 billion for last month; a 20 percent decline from the $1.33 billion spent during the same period last year. Breaking that total down, hardware sales accounted for $381.4 million of all moneys spent in February, down 18 percent year over year, while software sales accounted for $464.4 million (down 23 percent year over year) and accessories sales brought in $215.2 million, down 16 percent year over year.

Despite those year over year declines, hardware sales increased 62 percent over January, Vita sales notwithstanding. Factoring in Sony's new handheld boosts that figure all the way up to 87 percent.

On the software front, the Vita's best-selling launch title was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, earning a spot among the month's top 20 overall best-selling titles. The top ten best-selling titles for February can be found after the break, with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning being the only new IP to make the list.

Continue reading February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year

February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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January NPD: Sales down without big launches, Skylanders a hit for accessories

Mike Schramm — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:51:00 EST

Both hardware and software video game sales were down by a great deal in January, according to the latest report from NPD. Both categories dropped 38% year over year in the US, and video games sales in total dropped from $1.14 billion in January of 2011 to $750 million this past month. NPD's Liam Callahan attributes the drops to a lack of new launches: Last January, Microsoft's Kinect propped up hardware sales, and Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and DC Universe Online did the same for software, but there weren't equivalent launches in the market this year.

The full list of the top ten titles is after the break. Just Dance 3 held down the number two spot, again landing in front of the very popular Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Zumba Fitness 2 also made it into the top ten, but Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is likely the most important game for January.

In addition to landing on the list at 8th, Skylanders is seeing huge sales in the accessories category, making up 22% of total accessory sales overall. The game's single character pack was also the best selling accessory during the month of January, and these numbers should bode well for the series and its future iterations.

Finally, despite that big drop in hardware sales, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg points out that the Xbox 360 has remained the highest-selling console on the market, selling 270,000 units with a 49% market share.

Continue reading January NPD: Sales down without big launches, Skylanders a hit for accessories

January NPD: Sales down without big launches, Skylanders a hit for accessories originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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