With a very busy month of March behind us, the NPD has revealed that the PlayStation 4 defeated the Xbox One for a third straight month in the United States, finishing first overall in hardware sales.
Here’s what Sony had to say about the win via statement we received:
We are truly honored PlayStation 4 is the top-selling console and No. 1 in software sales again according to NPD sales data for March 2015. PS4 remains the cumulative sales leader both globally and in the United States and we want to thank gamers worldwide for their ongoing support.
Despite the many releases last month, the retail industry was down in March, dropping 6% to $963.7 million when compared to March 2014. For a breakdown, hardware was at $311.1 million (down 21%), software was at $395.4 million (down 3%), and accessories were at $257.2 million (up 15%).
Looking closer at software, Battlefield Hardline won the month and sold best on Xbox One, while PS4-exclusive Bloodborne managed to place in second, despite only being on sale for about a week and a half (the NPD’s March report tracked sales until April 4). We don’t know specific sales for Bloodborne at retail in the US, but it did cross 1 million worldwide after launch.
As NPD analyst Liam Callahan added about Bloodborne, “The launch of Bloodborne ranked as second overall in software sales this month, but also has the second highest sales for the debut month of a first-party game on the PS4, after inFamous: Second Son, in March 2014.”
Here’s the top 10 selling games in March 2015, which totals retail sales across all systems and includes Collectors Editions, GOTY Editions, and bundles, but not those bundled with hardware (sales by platform are ranked in brackets from highest-selling to least-selling):
- Battlefield: Hardline (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, 360, PS3, PC)
- Bloodborne (PS4)
- Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
- Mario Party 10 (Wii U) (sold 290,000 copies physical and digital, according to Nintendo)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS3)
- Minecraft (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
- NBA 2K15 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (PS4, Xbox One)
- Final Fantasy: Type 0 HD (PS4, Xbox One)
If you missed it last month, here’s what happened in February 2015.
[Source: Games Industry]
