Uncharted 4 tops US retail for May, Overwatch close behind
In other news, the sky is blue and pigs remain firmly grounded.
Uncharted 4 tops US retail for May, Overwatch close behind
The NPD group has released its chart tracking data for US retail in the month of May 2016 and it is fairly predictable: Uncharted 4 topped the software charts despite being a platform exclusive.
"Uncharted 4 also marked the best first month of sales for any game in the Uncharted series after Uncharted 3, which is remarkable given the fact that it launched during the holiday period (in November 2011)," the NPD's Liam Callahan said. In other words, despite May traditionally being a month where things are sent to die, Uncharted absolutely thrived.
It's unclear whether Naughty Dog would have held this spot if Overwatch had released earlier in the month; despite popping out right at the end of May, it took third spot on the charts. Callahan said Overwatch's sales per day were double that of DOOM.
In other NPD news, software sales were up 18% year-on-year, hardware was down 10% year-on-year, and accessories fell 2% year-on-year. This worked out to a total industry spend increase of 4% year-on-year.
The hardware decline was, as ever, led by portables and last-gen consoles; no trouble on the PS4 and Xbox One front.
"It is encouraging to see such a healthy install base of the Xbox One and PS4, which currently have 43 percent higher cumulative unit sales than their predecessors at the same point in their lifecycles," Callahan said.
The software increase seems to come down to a healthy spate of new releases as publishers apparently figure out we can spend money all through the year if we're given something to spend it on. May 2016 launches represented 51% of all new software sales during the month, and were up significantly year-on-year.
None of the platform holders sent any interesting statements this month, which probably means the PS4 won, as usual. Software charts follow.
NPD new physical software top ten, May 2017
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)
- DOOM (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Overwatch (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Battleborn (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto 5 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Minecraft (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- MLB 16: The Show (PS4, PS3)
- Dark Souls 3 (PS4, Xbox One)