14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group, which has long been tracking the performance of various products associated with the video game industry, is announcing that its data shows that the PlayStation 4 home console from Sony once again managed to sell more devices during the month of March in the United States than its rival Xbox One from Microsoft did.
According to data from the company gathered by the NeoGAF forums, the overall value of the industry seems to be equivalent this year to the same period of 2015. However, there was a relatively big drop in the sales associated with mobile gaming devices and with current-generation consoles, which mean that hardware has posted an overall decline of about 19 percent.
In other words, players seem to become less interested in the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, and that will probably push companies that manufacture them to try and revitalize their platforms by introducing price cuts and more sales or by revealing that they are planning to offer upgraded versions before the end of the year.
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have not offered any hard numbers for their home consoles, but the consensus is that the PS4 currently has about double the overall installed base all over the world when compared to its main rival.
The Division leads video game sales for March
The new multiplayer shooter from Ubisoft had the best launch month so far for any video game that uses the Tom Clancy name and managed to deliver 40% more units to fans than the second best performer, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, which arrived way back in 2008.
Overall game sales have increased by about 8 percent when compared to the same month of 2015, which is a good sign for the health of the industry overall.
The rest of the top ten includes: Far Cry: Primal, another Ubisoft title for the PC, the PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One; The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, offered only on the Wii U, Grand Theft Auto V from Rockstar and Take Two, UFC 2 from EA Sports, MLB 16: The Show from Sony, Pokken Tournament from Nintendo, NBA 2K16 from 2K Games, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 from Activision, and Minecraft.
The NPD Group notes that most of the video game sales for March in the United States are linked to the PlayStation 4 from Sony, although this does not take into account titles delivered digitally on any platforms.