Video game sales slump Video game sales slump

Video game sales slump Video game sales slump

It would seem the new year has not brought good tidings for the games industry. Their biggest market, the US saw a slump in its sales this month.

The NPD group say that stores sold $1.14bn worth of games over the first month of 2012, a 34% slump from the previous year. Hardware sales are also down by 38%. It comes as no surprise. Whether you play Party Pokeron a PC or Just Dance on the Wii, post-Christmas will always be a difficult sales period.

However the sales slump does not normally include the games industry. Consumer data suggests that the drop is due to a complete lack of major new releases in this month. However Liam Callaham of NPD pointed out, that games released in the last three months of 2011 did not perform well in sales either.

Other analysts are keen to remind us that the economy is fresh on consumer minds. Therefore this might have been a contributing factor, that could very well impact the launch of Sony’s brand new console, PlayStation Vita.

The drop isn’t just in the US though. IGN has stated a similar sales drop has occurred in the UK too. Japan and Europe have also seen a figure drop.

It isn’t all bad though. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 held the title for top selling hardware platform. The console has been at the top for 6 months now. Meanwhile Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the best selling game title this month, followed closely by Just Dance 3, NBA 2K12 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

So it looks as though Sony will have its work cut out with the launch of PlayStation Vita. The console goes on sale across Europe, America and Australia on 22 February.