The release of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) has boosted retail video game sales in September.
GTA V was one of the most anticipated video games of 2013. Rockstar Games released the game on September 17, and it soon became one of the most popular games within the gaming community. GTA V officially hit $1 billion in sales in just three days of release and also went on to become the UK's fastest selling games in the country's history. The game sold over 1.57 million units in the first day only and generated over £65 million in revenue. The game has also sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
"Grand Theft Auto represented over 50 percent of dollar sales in September, and had the highest first-month sales than any other previous launch in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. September 2013 sales for Video Game point and Subscription cards also increased versus 2012, making it the best September on record for these types of items--another indication of consumers' increasing comfort with digital content," said Liam Callahan, an analyst with NPD Group.
Callahan also pointed out that the release of GTA V in September this year was much needed in the gaming industry.
The analyst said the overall gaming industry sales rose by 27 percent, when compared to September 2012, to $1.08 billion in September this year. The figures only indicate 50 percent of the total consumer spends on games for September. The total consumer spend, including sales from rental and used sources and digital format revenue, will take the sales to around $1.9 billion.
Sony's PS3 was the top selling gaming console beating the Xbox 360, which was the best-selling console for the last 32 months since January 2011. The NPD Group added that the upsurge of PS3 sale in September was triggered by the company's special 500GB GTAV bundle.
Software sales were up, but at the same time hardware sales are down, as gamers are now waiting for the release of Xbox One and PlayStation 4, which will hit the shelves just before the start of the holiday season.
