Video Game Sales Plunged 26% in July

Posted on September 5, 2011

Video game sales plunged in July. A report from the NPD Group found sales in July 2011 ($707.7 million) were 26% lower than in July 2010 ($961.3). The category does not include app downloads, which could be starting to steal some marketshare from video games.

A USA Today story cites Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter as saying big June releases - L.A. Noire, Duke Nukem Forever and Infamous 2 - did not have legs.

Gamasutra found one bright spot in the sales data - EA's NCAA Football franchise is doing well.

There are some big releases coming up, such as Gears of War 3 (September 20, 2011) and Battlefield 3 (October 25, 2011), which could help the video game industry recover from July. Madden NFL 12 was also just released and it usually garners big sales.

NPD Group also released a list of the bestselling video games in 2010. Here is the list:

  1. NCAA Football 12 (Electronic Arts, PS3, Xbox 360, PS3)
  2. Cars 2 (Disney Interactive Studios, Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC)
  3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard, NDS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC)
  4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Disney, 3DS, NDS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC)
  5. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft, Wii)
  6. Major League Baseball 2K11 (Take 2 Interactive, NDS, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC)
  7. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Majesco, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
  8. Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
  9. New Super Mario Bros DS (Nintendo, NDS)
  10. Mortal Kombat 2011 (Warner Bros. Interactive, PS3, Xbox 360)

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