In the NPD’s March 2016 report for United States games industry sales, they reveal that total sales were virtually flat year-over-year, finishing at $964.1 million.
Looking at each category, hardware was down 19% to $253.2 million, software was up 7% to $433 million, and accessories were up 9% to $285.1 million.
According to NPD analyst Liam Callahan, seventh generation consoles (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii ) suffered a huge year-over-year drop:
Portable hardware sales had the highest dollar sales volume decline versus last March, followed closely by eighth generation consoles. Seventh generation consoles had a steep percentage decline of 78 percent, though those sales now represent only 2 per cent of the month’s sales.
Looking at software, The Division and Far Cry Primal were the top two games in March, making Ubisoft the #1 software publisher for Q1 2016, with a dollar sales increase of over 200%. For just The Division, it had the best month for any Tom Clancy title, selling 40% more than the previous best-selling title, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
Here’s the top 10 selling games for March 2016 (February 28 – April 2), 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):
- The Division (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Far Cry: Primal (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- EA Sports UFC 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
- MLB The Show 16 (PS4, PS3)
- Pokken Tournament (Wii U)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PSe)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- Minecraft (360, PS4, Xbox One, PS3)
How do you think Ratchet & Clank and Dark Souls 3 will do this month?
[Source: Games Industry, Games Beat]
