Sony’s video game console, PlayStation 4 (PS4), raked in U.S. sales again in May 2014 for the fifth month in a row, besting its closest rival Microsoft’s Xbox One, a research firm reveals.
Based on the NPD Group’s industry report on both hardware and software sales in May, game fanatics shelled out $586 million, a mark up by 52 percent in 2013 that has $387 million recorded sales.
Of which the total hardware sales were recorded at $187 million, which indicate a 95 percent increase from recorded sales of $96 million in May 2013. Neither Microsoft nor Sony, however, revealed the monthly numbers.
"PlayStation continues to be the best place to play for innovative IP, as PS4 was the preferred platform for May's biggest releases, including Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and held four of the top five spots for next gen software sales. PS4 is the leading next-gen platform for sports, highlighted in May by the best-selling sports game, MLB 14: The Show," Guy Longworth, Sony’s senior vice president of Brand Marketing, says of its analysis on the numbers provided by the research firm.
Sales of new physical game software, on the other hand, are $274 million, which is up by 57 percent from last year’s recorded sales of $175 million.
"While much of May 2014's hardware growth was due to Xbox One and PS4, there was also year-over-year growth for the Wii U, and (PlayStation) Vita," Liam Callahan, an NPD analyst, says.
The NPD report also shows the popularity of gaming bundles among consumers contributed much to the strong sales performance this year.
“After six months of declines, software rebounded in May 2013 driven by new launches such as Watch Dogs, Mario Kart 8, Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Kirby: Triple Deluxe,” says Callahan.
Industry watchers say that such report illustrates a good sign for video game console manufacturers. It only goes to show that consumers in the U.S. are able to sustain high spending even beyond the holiday season when new systems and blockbusters are up on sale.
NPD also releases a list of the top 10 selling software: (1) Watch Dogs, (2) Mario Kart 8, (3) MLB 14: The Show, (4) Wolfenstein: The New Order, (5) Minecraft, (6) The Amazing Spider-Man 2, (7) NBA 2K14, (8) Titanfall, (9) Kirby: Triple Deluxe, (10) Call of Duty: Ghosts.
The NPD report illustrates how Sony recently has consistently proven its lead in the game consoles market in U.S., surpassing its long-time rival Microsoft, since November when new devices were rolled out. What appears to be in response to this tight competition, Microsoft started to sell a lower-priced Xbox One model to compete with Sony PS4’s $399 price tag. Report likewise indicates that Microsoft faced a difficult time to convince gaming enthusiasts that its $499 price is well justified, say industry watchers.
Both Sony and Microsoft displayed new consoles and game titles at the yearly E3 conference that happened early this June. The two companies are said to be gearing up for the coming holiday season where consumers go on a buying spree.
