NPD Group reported Thursday that new consoles from Sony and Microsoft powered a winning holiday season for the videogame industry in the United States.<\/p>\n
“The newest consoles from Microsoft and Sony are off to a tremendous start,” said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.<\/p>\n
“Xbox One led consoles sales in December, while PlayStation 4’s two-month total makes it the best selling console during the two-month launch window.”<\/p>\n
The rival consoles were released in November and eagerly snapped up by players.<\/p>\n
Nintendo’s Wii U consoles also fared well during the holidays, with December logging its best monthly sales since its release about 13 months earlier, Callahan said.<\/p>\n
Videogame hardware sales more than offset a 17 percent drop in sales of game software to $1.31 billion in December, according to NPD.<\/p>\n
For the full year, game software sales were down 11 percent from 2012 to $6.34 billion. One reason for the drop was said to be that fewer titles were released.<\/p>\n
US videogame hardware sales for the December holiday period were $1.37 billion, a 28 percent rise over the same period a year earlier, NPD reported<\/p>\n
Videogame hardware sales for the year tallied $4.26 billion, up five percent from the $4.04 billion logged in 2012.<\/p>\n
When factoring in money spent on game rentals, downloadable content, micro-transactions, mobile “apps,” play at social networks, subscriptions, and used game sales, nearly $2.4 billion was spent on games in December, according to NPD.<\/p>\n
NPD ranked “Grand Theft Auto V,” published by Take 2 Interactive Software, as last year’s top-selling videogame.<\/p>\n
Electronic Arts’ military shooter title “Battlefield 4” was the second most popular game with buyers, with France-based Ubisoft’s “Just Dance 2014” taking third spot.<\/p>\n
The latest installment of the beloved “Call of Duty” franchise was the best selling game in the United States in December, according to the industry tracker.<\/p>\n
It was the fifth consecutive month of rising overall US sales in the videogame industry.<\/p>\n
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