The Xbox One didn’t win another April in the United States, as Sony confirmed to GameSpot that the PlayStation 4 was the #1 selling console of April 2016.
Sony didn’t offer their usual statement about winning the month, and a big decline in hardware sales could be the reason. According to the full NPD report, total industry sales were down 15% year-over-year to $509.5 million, including hardware down 23% to $142.1 million, software down 22% to $207.3 million, and accessories up 4% to $163.5 million.
NPD analyst Liam Callahan explained that the drop in hardware was due to decreased dollar sales:
Compared to last year, dollar spending for 8th generation consoles decreased by 15 percent with an over 70 percent decline in 7th generation consoles. Portables also dropped by $11.3MM in sales over last April. Despite these declines, keep in mind that Xbox One and PS4 are trending over 40 percent higher in cumulative sales after 30 months in the market compared to their predecessors.
As for software, none of the new releases could match Mortal Kombat X’s big debut last year, with Callahan saying, “Mortal Kombat X was a strong launch last year – its April 2015 sales exceeded that of the entirety of all April 2016 new launches by 18 percent.”
Despite this, there was good news for both Dark Souls 3 and Ratchet & Clank: Dark Souls 3 had the strongest launch in franchise history and nearly doubled Dark Souls 2’s sales, while Ratchet & Clank “had the best launch of any game in the Ratchet & Clank franchise.”
Here’s the top 10 selling games for March 2016 (April 3 – 30), which totals retail sales across all systems and includes Collector’s Editions, GOTY Editions, and bundles, but not those bundled with hardware (sales by platform are ranked in brackets from highest-selling to least-selling):
- Dark Souls 3 (PS4, Xbox One)
- Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
- MLB The Show 16 (PS4, PS3)
- The Division (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Minecraft (Xbox One, 360, PS4, PS3)
- Quantum Break (Xbox One)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Star Fox: Zero (Wii U)
Do you think Uncharted 4 will be #1 this month?
[Source: Games Industry, Venture Beat, GameSpot]
