14 DAY TRIAL // The video game market has continued to decline during September in the United States, with the overall value of sales, as reported by the NPD Group, dropping by 24 percent when compared to the same period of 2011. Madden NFL 13 became the best-selling title for the month, while the Xbox 360 from Microsoft continued to dominate the hardware space.
Overall sales have reached 848.3 million dollars (656.6 million Euro) for the month of September.
Despite significant video game launches like Madden NFL 13, FIFA 13 and Borderlands 2, the software sector has failed to see an increase in sales and has declined by 14 percent when compared to 2011, mostly because no game could match the performance of Gears of War 3 from Epic Games.
The NPD Group compiled top ten for the United States market includes:
1. Madden NFL 13 from EA Sports 2. Borderlands 2 from Gearbox and 2K Games 3. FIFA Soccer 13 from EA Sports 4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 from Nintendo 5. Guild Wars 2 created by NCsoft 6. NHL 13 from EA Sports 7. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria from Blizzard 8. NCAA Football 13 from EA Sports 9. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes from Warner Bros. 10. Battlefield 3 created by Electronic Arts
Liam Callahan, an analyst for the NPD Group, stated that Madden NFL 13 “sold 11 percent more units in its debut month than the previous Madden last year. Not only was this an improvement over last year, but the launch of Madden NFL 13 represented the best month one performance at retail for a Madden title ever.”
When it comes to hardware, when compared to 2011, the decline has been even worse, reaching 39%.
The Xbox 360 has led the pack, selling 270,000 units according to Microsoft, meaning that it has been dominating the United States market for 21 months now.