Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
PlayStation 4 Leads June Hardware Sales In The United States
We won’t have full NPD data until next week due to the inclusion of select digital sales data. However, platform holders have chimed in on their performance for June.
Sony didn’t share a formal statement, but the company did confirm to us that PlayStation 4 led console sales in the United States. Microsoft is standing by its decision not to report hardware sales data, but said that more than 1.2 billion hours were played on Xbox One. That’s a platform record and double performance from a year ago. It is not possible to equate those to financial performance or software sales, especially as June was a big month for backward compatibility titles.
Nintendo saw a 39 percent increase in 3DS family (3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, and 2DS) sales during the month of June. Both Kirby: Planet Robobot and Rhythm Heaven Megamix performed well. The former hit number four on NPD’s retail charts (full list available on July 21). The latter, a digital-only release, sat atop the eShop charts for most of the month.
Of note, Super Smash Bros. hit a milestone on both Wii U and 3DS. On the home console, sales crossed the 2 million mark. The handheld edition surpassed 3 million units sold.
Our Take
I’m eager to see how the digital data impacts NPD reporting. For now, this gives us a taste of what to expect. The 3DS surge is quite interesting, and I wonder how much is due to the 2DS price drop in May and how much is related to summer road trip season in the U.S. It also doesn’t hurt that the system continues to play host to great games.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
