October NPD: NBA 2K11, Fallout Lead Software Charge

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Well, it might be the last month where you see a decline in the games industry, what with Call of Duty: Black Ops, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Gran Turismo 5 hitting like a sledgehammer this month.

The October NPD results are in and the industry experienced a 4% year-over-year decline in overall sales; total hardware, software and accessory sales came in at $1.07 billion. The drop is mostly due to a shrinkage in the console and handheld market as hardware sales fell 26% to $280 million; the Xbox 360 was the only system to grow in sales in comparison to last October. For the record, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves launched in October 2009 and PS3 sales rose, so it probably isn't surprising to see that the PS3 was unable to match last year's monthly tally. On the plus side, while people weren't buying new systems, they were indeed buying new games, and software sales rose 6% to $605 million. The top-notch NBA 2K11 led the charge, followed by more sports titles like FIFA Soccer 11 and Madden NFL 11.

Fallout: New Vegas hit the 5 million shipped plateau and came in at second place on the multiplatform sales chart. Medal of Honor was the third-best selling game and here's the rest of the list-

• 1. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, WII, PC) - 2K Sports
• 2. Fallout: New Vegas (360, PS3, PC) - Bethesda Softworks
• 3. Medal of Honor (360, PS3, PC) - Electronic Arts
• 4. Fable III (360) - Microsoft
• 5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (360, PS3, WII, PC, DS) - LucasArts
• 6. Halo: Reach (360) - Microsoft
• 7. Just Dance 2 (Wii) - Ubisoft
• 8. FIFA Soccer 11 (PS3, 360, WII, PS2, PSP, DS, PC) - Electronic Arts
• 9. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP) - Electronic Arts
• 10. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 (PS3, 360, PS2, WII, PSP) - THQ

And here's Sony's official statement from SCEA Sr. Director of Corporate Communications, Patrick Seybold:

"PlayStation 3 has been building up tremendous momentum heading into the peak holiday season and we're seeing strong movement at retail for both hardware and software. PlayStation 3 software sales were incredibly strong in October and PS3 was the only platform that had growth in the software over September, to the tune of nearly 50%. With next week's launch of the industry's most anticipated title, Gran Turismo 5, we're sure to carry the momentum through the holidays. In addition, PlayStation Move continues to perform incredibly well.

The PS3 Move Bundle had a 15% increase in sales since launch last month, and we're working hard to keep the inventory up across the country to meet strong consumer demand. We continue to add great Move software from both our World Wide Studios group and our publishing partners with titles across all genres for everyone in the family including SingStar Dance, The Sly Collection, The Fight: Lights Out, Time Crisis: Razing Storm, Toy Story 3, MAG and NBA 2K11. With the growing content and services options for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Network, including recently added Hulu Plus and NHL GameCenter, as well as the pending launch of Vudu on PS3, we're constantly adding additional value to the hardware and consumers are responding to the continuing proof that It Only Does Everything."

Tags: game industry, npd, october npd, game sales

11/17/2010 10:17:38 AM Ben Dutka

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