US retail sales of video games fell for 6th month

Jun 15, 2012

(AP) — A new study says U.S. retail sales of video-game hardware, software and accessories fell 28 percent in May to $517 million. It's the sixth-consecutive month of decline.

Sales of console and portable software — the video games themselves — fell 32 percent from a year earlier to $255 million, while of hardware fell 39 percent to $139 million. That was offset partly by a 7 percent increase in sales of accessories, to $122 million.

Market tracker NPD Group issued the report Thursday. It tracks sales of new physical products — about 50 percent to 60 percent of the total spending. Excluded are sales of used games and rentals as well as digital and social-network spending.

The top-selling in May was Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Diablo III" for PCs.

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User comments : 3

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gmurphy
5 / 5 (2) Jun 15, 2012
Apart from Diablo III, there is nothing worth looking at, I've been playing Mafia 2, which is pretty decent despite being two years old, a great, immersive story.
Technophebe
5 / 5 (2) Jun 15, 2012
Yes I'd agree with gmurphy. The fall in videogame sales is indicative of nothing more than a lack of big name releases. Note also that "Excluded are sales of used games and rentals as well as digital and social-network spending" which is really like saying "Excluded is 50% (or more) of all spending". These figures really aren't very surprising.
rwinners
5 / 5 (1) Jun 17, 2012
I suspect that games sales are very seasonal, as well as what the previous posters have stated. How about a 2 year chart?

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