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March 2015 NPD – Battlefield Hardline and PS4 Lead Sluggish Retail Sales
Sony's console continued to dominate the Xbox One in March, but sales overall continued their slow pace in the retail space.
The NPD reports that hardware sales decreased by nine percent. "Console hardware was the primary culprit responsible for the March 2015 sales decline, with a 29 percent, or $104 million decrease, in spending while portable hardware rose by 71 percent over last year,” says NPD's Liam Callahan.
Physical software sales also dropped by six percent from March 2014, but don't take this as a signal the new consoles are struggling. "March 2015 software sales showed growth across all three eighth generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U), collectively increasing by 58 percent versus March 2014," Callahan says. "This is a sign of the health of the eight generation console space; especially when considering the strong March 2014 software releases (as a comparison) such as Titanfall and inFamous: Second Son.”
The PlayStation 4 was once again the top-selling console. Sony also said March was its strongest month for the PlayStation store thus far this year, signaling that users are starting to embrace digital downloads. Bloodborne and Battlefield Hardline in particular were mentioned in relation to the digital marketplace.
Nintendo had several talking points to tout following the NPD report. The total 3DS sales have increased by 80 percent during the first three months of 2015, and Super Smash Bros. 3DS has now sold 2.4 million units over its lifetime. On the Wii U front, Nintendo says sales are up 20 percent over the same three month period in 2014. Super Smash Bros. Wii U and Mario Kart 8 continue to be strong sellers for the platform, crossing the 1.6 million and 1.9 million marks, respectively.
As for Microsoft, though the Xbox One isn't faring as well as the Xbox 360 in marketshare, the new console is still outpacing the 360 at this point in the lifecycle. The company also said that the people who are on the platform are spending more time playing games, with the Xbox Live numbers rising 45 percent compared to March 2014.
Here is the full list of software sales, with the platforms ordered in terms of sales:
1. Battlefield Hardline (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
2. Bloodborne (PS4)
3. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
4. Mario Party 10 (Wii U)
5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
6. MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS3)
7. Minecraft (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
8. NBA 2K15 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
9. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4, Xbox One)
10. Final Fantasy: Type 0 HD (PS4, Xbox One)
Our Take
Whenever we see slowing sales, it's easy to say the sky is falling, but remember that retail only accounts for a fraction of console and software sales in today's landscape. We have no way of tracking the total sales, so the NPD figures are best used as a glimpse into which consoles and games are doing best, but not the final word.
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