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The Games Of May: Comparing 2010 Through 2014

by Mike Futter on Jun 27, 2014 at 07:15 AM

Last month, we premiered our first look at five years of game releases. It’s time to revisit the month of May to see what made a splash and which titles fizzled.

We’ve included NPD data for the years gone by and will update this story with May’s NPD data once its available in June. As a reminder, NPD covers United States retail only. It's used as a data point

2014

Week of April 28

Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS) - May 2
Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS) - May 2

Week of May 5

Borderlands 2 (Vita) - May 6 (Bundled with Vita)
God of War Collection (Vita) - May 6
MLB 14 The Show (PS4) - May 6
Stick it to the Man (PS4, Wii U) - May 6
Nutjitsu (Xbox One) - May 7
Peggle 2 (360) - May 7
Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure (PC) - May 7
Bound By Flame (PS4, PS3, 360, PC) - May 9

Week of May 12

Borderlands 2 (Vita) - May 13 (Standalone)
Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition (PC) - May 13
Super Time Force (Xbox One, 360) - May 14
Minecraft (PS3 - Retail) - May 16

Week of May 19

Drakengard 3 (PS3) - May 20
Mugen Souls Z (PS3) - May 20
R-Type Dimensions (PS3) - May 20
Transistor (PS4) - May 20
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) - May 20
Always Sometimes Monsters (PC) - May 21
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II (PC) - May 22
Killer is Dead: Nightmare Edition (PC) - May 23
Tropico 5 (PC) - May 23

Week of May 26

Mind Zero (Vita) - May 27
Watch Dogs (Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) - May 27
Sly Cooper Collection (Vita) - May 27
Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) - May 30

NPD Data

Watch Dogs (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
MLB 14: The Show (PS4, PS3, Vita)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
Minecraft (360, PS3)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, 3DS, Wii U)
NBA 2K14 (360, PS4. PS3, Xbox One, PC)
Titanfall (360, Xbox One, PC)
Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, PC, Wii U)

As we analyzed the data and looked at the titles coming out this month, we noticed something that is going to make new-gen early adopters unhappy. Of the six titles coming to PlayStation 4 this month, four are available on PS3. One of the other two can be found on Wii U.

As for Xbox One, you're out of luck entirely. Three of the games are available on Microsoft's older system. The last one is a port of a Windows Phone game. Sure, the new-gen versions are going to look better, but as far as gameplay experiences go, there's very little by way of unique opportunities on new hardware this month.

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis

May 2013 was an underwhelming month filled with re-releases and ports, including two 2012 titles making their way to Wii U. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, the April Fools Joke made real, performed well for Ubisoft, though wasn’t counted in NPD reports because it wasn’t a retail release.

Metro: Last Light was the standout title of the month, selling better than its predecessor under new publisher Deep Silver (who also found success with Dead Island Riptide). The Metro series continues to pick up steam with a new-gen re-release planned for formal unveiling at E3.

Injustice, an April release, continued to captivate fans, which is a big part of our fascination with Ed Boon’s ongoing mystery countdown. Lego Batman 2 was lifted onto the list again thanks to the release of the Wii U port, and the 3DS had a stellar showing with Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon.

2013

Week of April 29

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (360, PC) - May 1
Fez (PC) - May 1
Might & Magic Heroes VI: Shades of Darkness (PC) - May 1

Week of May 6

Crash Course 2 (360) - May 7
Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS) - May 9
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine (360) - May 10

Week of May 13

Dust 514 (PS3) - May 14
Metro: Last Light (PS3, 360, PC) – May 14
The Starship Damrey (3DS) - May 16

Week of May 20

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PS3, 360, PSN) - May 21
Fast & Furious Showdown (PS3, 360, Wii U, PC) – May 21
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii U) - May 21
Resident Evil Revelations (PS3, 360, Wii U, PC) – May 21
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (360, PC) - May 22
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS) – May 24
Sniper Elite V2 (Wii U) – May 24

Week of May 27

Fuse (PS3, 360) – May 28
Grid 2 (PS3, 360, PC) – May 28

NPD Data

Injustice: Gods Among Us (360, PS3, Wii U)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS, Wii)
Dead Island: Riptide (360, PS3, PC)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
Metro: Last Light (360, PS3, PC)
NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
Bioshock Infinite (360, PS3, PC)
Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, 3DS, Wii U, Vita, PC)

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis

May 2012 was an absolutely stacked month, with three brand new heavy hitters leading US retail sales charts. Diablo III, which recently tore up the charts again thanks to significant updates and the Reaper of Souls expansion, led the way.

Rockstar’s Max Payne 3 wasn’t far behind, wowing gamers on three different platforms with a major update to the series visuals and gameplay. Dragon’s Dogma, which continues to surprise Capcom and make its way into financial reports, was first introduced in May 2012, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a new-gen sequel sometime soon.

Half the NPD chart was filled with new releases, with a nod to Prototype 2, which came out at the end of April. Despite strong sales of new games, that month saw a significant drop in hardware sales (39 percent) and software was down 16 percent.

If you want to know when the industry started looking toward next-gen, the weakness of the month in contrast with the great titles released during it seems like a good place to point. This wasn’t a new drop, but this kind of softness against powerhouse titles was definitely a wake-up call.

2012

Week of April 30

TERA (PC) - May 1
Sniper Elite V2 (PS3, 360, PC) - May 1
Fable Heroes (360) - May 2
Nexuiz (PC) - May 2

Week of May 7

Starhawk (PS3) - May 8
Minecraft (360) - May 9
Street Fighter X Tekken (PC) - May 11

Week of May 14

Battleship (PS3, 360, 3DS, DS) - May 15
Diablo III (PC) - May 15
Game of Thrones (PS3, 360, PC) - May 15
Max Payne 3 (PS3, 360) - May 15
PixelJunk 4am (PS3) - May 15
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (PS3, 360, PC) - May 15
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PC) - May 18
Mario Tennis Open (3DS) - May 20

Week of May 21

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (PC) - May 22
Dragon’s Dogma (PS3, 360) - May 22
MiB: Alien Crisis (PS3, 360, PC) - May 22
Sorcery (PS3) - May 22
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PS3, 360) - May 22
Dirt: Showdown (PC) - May 23
Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (PS3) - May 23

Week of May 28

The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb (PC) - May 28
Resistance: Burning Skies (Vita) - May 29
Ys Origin (PC) - May 29

NPD Data

Diablo III (PC)
Max Payne 3 (360, PS3, PC)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (360, PS3)
Prototype 2 (360, PS3)
NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
Sniper Elite V2 (360, PS3)
Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
Dragon's Dogma (360, PS3)
Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis

Compared to the following year, May 2011 didn’t offer much to get really excited about outside of L.A. Noire. Many had high hopes for Brink and were let down by some missing usability features (like switching between characters mid-match to better adjust tactics).

The Witcher 2 won’t be found on the NPD list (because NPD doesn’t include digital sales), but CD Projekt’s RPG was technically stunning and narratively enthralling. Lego titles typically sell well, and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean was no exception.

2011 saw a dip in both hardware (5 percent) and software (19 percent). April 2011 saw modest growth in both categories, but June 2011 saw dips in both (10 percent and 9 percent respectively). The wavering performance carried through the holiday with ups and downs before things started to contract more heavily in 2012.

2011

Week of May 2

Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword (PC) - May 3
MotorStorm: Apocalypse (PS3) - May 3
Thor: God of Thunder (PS3, 360, Wii, DS) - May 3

Week of May 9

Brink (PS3, 360, PC) - May 10
The First Templar (360, PC) - May 10
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PC) - May 10
Hydrophobia Prophecy (PS3, PC) - May 10
MX vs. ATV Alive (PS3, 360) - May 10
Virtua Tennis 4 (PS3, 360, PC) - May 10

Week of May 16

Terraria (PC) - May 16
L.A. Noire (PS3, 360) - May 17
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC) - May 17

Week of May 23

Dirt 3 (PS3, 360, PC) - May 24
Kung Fu Panda 2 (PS3, 360, Wii, DS) - May 24
Frozen Synapse (PC) - May 26

Week of May 30

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge (PS3, 360, PC) - May 31
The Sims 3: Generations (PC) - May 31

NPD Data

L.A. Noire (360, PS3)
Brink (360, PS3, PC)
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
Portal 2 (360, PS3, PC)
Mortal Kombat 2011 (PS3, 360)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)
Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3)
NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC)
Just Dance 2 (Wii)
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis

Way back in 2010, NPD reported how many copies the top games in each month sold. It also broke things down by platform, instead of grouping data together at the title level (which is why the data below looks a little different than later years).

Red Dead Redemption put up huge numbers with 1.5 million copies sold in just a couple of weeks here in the United States. Unsurprisingly, Super Mario Galaxy 2 pleased fans, selling over half a million here in just a week on a single platform.

Software was up overall by 4 percent year-over-year in this month, but hardware saw a precipitous drop of 20 percent. However, both the Xbox 360 and PS3 moved more units than in April.

2010

Week of May 3

What Did I Do To Deserve This My Lord? 2 (PSP) - May 3
Iron Man 2 (PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS) - May 3
Dementium II (DS) - May 3

Week of May 10

3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) - May 11
Skate 3 (PS3, 360) - May 11
Lost Planet 2 (PS3, 360) - May 11
Rocket Knight (PS3, 360, PC) - May 12
Eschalon: Book II (PC) - May 12
Things on Wheels (360) - May 12
Heroes of Newerth (PC) - May 12

Week of May 17

Split Second: Velocity (PS3, 360, PC) - May 18
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS) - May 18
Alan Wake (360) - May 18
Red Dead Redemption (PS3, 360) - May 18
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow (DS) - May 18
Aqua: Naval Warfare (360) - May 19
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - May 23

Week of May 24

Blur (PS3, 360, PC) - May 25
ModNation Racers (PS3, PSP) - May 25
UFC 2010 (PS3, 360) - May 25
Tetris Party Deluxe (Wii) - May 25
Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex (360, Wii)

NPD Data

Red Dead Redemption (360) - 945.9K
Red Dead Redemption (PS3) - 567.1K
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 563.9K
UFC 2010: Undisputed (360) - 221.1K
UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3) - 192.3K
Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board (Wii) - 185K
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 184K
Alan Wake (360) - 145K
Pokémon SoulSilver Version (DS) - 141K
Skate 3 (360) - 133K

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis

The year-over-year analysis (based on NPD data, which only records United States retail information) shows contraction in the industry. Certainly, part of this is due to a transition to digital and the resurgence of the PC market. However, it’s clear that as the last generation wore on, sales dipped.

It’s understandable that as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 further saturated the market that hardware sales would slide. Software contraction is a bit more concerning, though.

Click to enlarge.

As the number of console owners increases, we would expect to see software purchases rise. In May, the number of releases was fairly consistent, with heavy hitting years (like 2012) stemming the decrease, but not abating it.

In that month, NPD noted that the year had seen 27 percent fewer new title introductions. This means that longer-term sales on titles (typically called “the tail”) weren’t helping to boost monthly performance.

Games are becoming more expensive, which means publishers are betting on fewer, bigger hits. We’ve commented before that the middle of the industry has eroded (though Ubisoft’s mini-AAA games like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon could help restore it). This has led to the closure of a number of studios and an environment that is extremely sensitive to failure.

Update: We've added the information from NPD's May 2014 report, which shows significant uptick in overall spend as well as hardware and software purchasing at retail in the United States. Hardware sales and overall purchasing shot up to levels even higher than 2012, but software still has room to grow to get back to where it was. Overall, the increases are the first in all three categories since before 2010.

Click to enlarge.

One thing we noted in our review of the data, is that the number of independent and self-published titles grew beginning in 2011. There were zero in May 2010, four in 2011 and 2012, three in 2013, and six slated for this May. Though it appears that the overall number of titles has not changed drastically in the last five years, the number from large publishers has decreased.

There doesn't seem to be any consistency among major publishers with regard to releases in May, except for Take-Two and Rockstar, which released Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and Max Payne 3 during the month in 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively.

Click to enlarge.

With regard to platform utilization during May, we've seen PC releases grow significantly since 2010, though that is likely due to the overall resurgence in that segment. As we noted earlier, there was a spike in releases on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2012.

We also note that of the new-gen releases this month, four of six PlayStation 4 releases are available on PS3. Another is available on Wii U. All of the Xbox One releases are available on Xbox 360, with the exception of Nutjitsu, a port of a Windows Phone game.

Click to enlarge.

Distribution of releases in May are concentrated in the second half of the month. Week 1 in all years overlaps with April. The first full week of May is labeled as Week 2, including 2010, which only had four weeks and no overlap with the previous month. The third full week in May (labeled as Week 4 on the graph above) saw an aggregated 32 titles, the most of any week. With the exception of the anomalous 2012, it was the most trafficked week of the month in all years.

We’ll update this once May NPD figures are released in June. We have updated this story with NPD data on the 2014 page and above for the industry breakdown.

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Analysis