Software (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
01. L.A. Noire (360, PS3) Take 2 Interactive - 899K
02. Brink (360, PS3, PC) Bethesda Softworks - 401K [360/PS3 Only]
03. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) Disney Interactive Studios
04. Portal 2 (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts
05. Mortal Kombat 2011 (PS3, 360) Warner Bros. Interactive - 292K
06. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
07. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) Majesco
08. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC) Take 2 Interactive
09. Just Dance 2 (Wii) Ubisoft
10. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) Lucasarts
Hardware
Xbox 360: 270K (+39%) [Best Selling Console]
PlayStation 3: 177K (+15%) [Anita Frazier's Commentary: ((194.6K + 154.5K) * 1.28) - 270K]
2011 continues to be the year of Xbox 360, selling more consoles than any other platform 11 of the past 12 months in the United States. In the seventh year of its lifecycle, Xbox 360 is on pace to have the biggest year in its history, a feat never achieved by any console in history.
May 2011 NPD highlights include:
· Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units in May, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, May 2011)
· Xbox 360 console sales during May were up 39 percent year over year, the largest growth of any current generation console on the market. May also marked the seventeenth month of year-over-year hardware sales increases. (Source: NPD Group, May 2011)
· Xbox 360 game sales reached $140 million in May. (Source: NPD Group, May 2011)
· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in May (hardware, software and accessories) reached $265 million, still the highest among current generation consoles. (Source: NPD Group, May 2011)
· During the month of May, four of the top ten console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “L.A. Noire,” “Portal 2,” “Mortal Kombat,” and “Brink.” (Source: NPD Group, May 2011)
Overall
“Keeping in mind that these sales figures represent just the new physical portion of the market for video game hardware, software, and accessories and not the growing portion of the industry that is comprised of digital format content distribution, May 2011 was the lowest month of sales for the industry since October 2006. A light slate of new releases is at the heart of this month's performance.”
“Overall, the Xbox 360 platform has contributed 34% of year-to-date revenues (across hardware, content and accessories) generated by new physical retail sales, gaining 7 share points over last year.”
Hardware
“The PS3, PSP and the Xbox 360 all experienced unit sales increases over May 2010. The top selling platform for the month was the Xbox 360, which has realized nearly a year and a half of month-over-month unit sales increases.”
“Sales of the 3DS were light, but with next Sunday's release of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, we will begin to see a slate of strong content come to market for the 3DS, which should help to significantly boost sales of hardware during the remainder of 2011.”
“Combined sales of the PS3 and Xbox 360 (HD hardware) are up 28% for the month and 21% year to date. Although the declines in console hardware sales in 2011 are attributable to the Wii, the platform remains the best-selling of this generation at nearly 36 million installed in the U.S.”
“At the current rate of growth and decline (on a year-to-date basis) for each of the respective console systems, a year from now the Wii will still enjoy the lead in install base in the U.S., although both the Xbox 360 and PS3 will close the gap. Of course, new details on hardware introduction could certainly change the picture.”
Software
“This month's story really is about a light new release schedule as compared to last year. There were 42 new SKU’s introduced in May as compared to 58 last May, and 72 in 2009. This is reflected in the share of dollars contributed by May releases, which was 28% in 2011 as compared to 41% last year.”
“As a result of a lighter release slate, promotional activity at retail and in circulars was reduced as well, which undoubtedly affected not only planned but impulse purchases.”
“The top genres contributing to the decline in new physical software sales were Action/Driving hybrid (Red Dead Redemption) and Platform/Scrolling Character (Super Mario Galaxy 2). Despite strong continued sales of Pokemon Black & White, the RPG genre also declined since the new games did not comp the performance of HeartGold and SoulSilver last year. Dance games, first-person shooters and general adventure grew, primarily due to notable titles like Just Dance 2, Brink, Portal 2, and L.A. Noire.”
“For the month, unit sales were down across all platforms except for Xbox 360, which was essentially flat to last year (+1%).“
“Keep in mind that purchases of content are increasingly occurring in digital format, and May saw a notable digital release in the second map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops which was titled Escalation. Undoubtedly, this shifted some dollars that might have been spent on new physical content at retail.”
Accessories
“Four of the top 10 items in accessories were points or subscriptions cards. Those four items represented 15% of all accessory units sold in May 2011.”
