Microsoft's efforts translated into Destiny selling best on the Xbox One platform, likely boosting hardware sales

Oct 17, 2014 08:01 GMT  ·  By

The latest NPD Group sales data is in, showing that the PlayStation 4 managed to outsell the Xbox One during the month of September in spite of Microsoft giving away a free game.

September was a big month for gaming, what with the launch of Destiny, one of the biggest new IPs of the year. Sony's marketing deal for Destiny landed it a lot of attention, which translated into solid sales, but Microsoft's own attempts to push its console are not to be discounted either.

Destiny sold better on the Xbox One in the US, but the PS4 still managed to stay on top overall, with an estimated 550k units sold during September, also leading software sales with games such as Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, and FIFA 15.

The data from the NPD Group shows that consumers spent $1.1 billion / €0.86 billion on gaming software and hardware at retailers in the United States of America over a five-week period, ranging from August 31 to October 4.

The industry tracking firm reveals that the aggregate value of sales is up 2 percent over the similar period in 2013, largely due to the fact that hardware sales are booming. As the software offer is lackluster for the time being and has been so for the duration of the year, retail games sales saw a decline from the same period last year.

The numbers in hardware

The NPD Group reports that hardware sales accounted for $433 million / €339 million in revenue across retail outlets in the US, translating into a massive 136 percent increase from last September.

In addition to this, consumers bought twice as many new consoles as compared to August, which is likely due to the bundles including Activision and Bungie's hugely successful science fiction first-person shooter Destiny.

"Hardware growth of 136 percent versus September 2013 is the highest growth rate seen this year. As seen in previous months, was driven by new console hardware sales of PS4 and Xbox One. Console hardware, specifically, was up over 200 percent versus September 2013," NPD analyst Liam Callahan says.

Software sales are still on a descending curve

Last September, Rockstar Games released its hugely popular open-world action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto 5, accounting for much of the $754 million / €589 million in revenue.

In spite of the fact that Destiny got off to a phenomenally good start, its sales can't rival an established franchise such as GTA, which translated into consumers spending only $481 million / €376 million on software last month, a 36 percent over last year.

"When taking out Grand Theft Auto V and Destiny, sales increased when looking at top 2 through 9 games only. This is an indication that sales decline this year were rooted in a poor comparison to last September's behemoth, Grand Theft Auto V," Callahan points out, showing that things aren't all that bad.

The NPD report only includes new physical games sold at retailers across the United States and does not account for digital copies of games, in-game purchases, and used software, but still, it represents a pretty accurate picture of what's going on in the gaming industry.