Despite record-breaking sales of a single video-game title and a good showing from Nintendo, the gaming industry showed weakness in November. Research from the NPD Group found strong possibilities of a down year for the video-game industry.
NPD reports video-game software and hardware revenue declined 7.6 percent in November from the year-ago period to $2.69 billion. Although many in the industry expected slight growth in video-game sales in November, the numbers show a 3.1 percent decline.
Indeed, declining video-game sales are especially surprising — and telling — given the blockbuster performance of Activision’s highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 title that debuted in November. Activision sold 6.1 million units of the popular franchise and poised the industry for gains. But other game titles didn’t hit their sales targets and ultimately dragged down the results.
“In order to break even to last year, December sales would have to be up 36 percent over December 2008,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “Breaking even seems more out of reach.”
Hardware Takes a Hit
It wasn’t just software sales that took a hit. Hardware sales were also down in November. Sales of video-game consoles dropped a collective 13.4 percent despite the sales rush on Black Friday. Nintendo fared well overall, selling 1.26 million Wiis to lead the hardware pack.
Microsoft sold 820,000 Xbox 360s and Sony sold a third-place 710,000 PlayStation 3 units. Still, despite its low position, Sony posted year-over-year growth with its PS3s. Sales of the console rose nearly 90 percent over November 2008, while Xbox sales were down two percent and Wii sales plunged 35 percent.
“Nintendo products top Amazon.com’s most-wished-for and most-gifted lists for video games, and Wii remains at or near the top of the most-searched-for video-game terms on Yahoo,” Nintendo. “As families and friends gather for the holidays, Nintendo games offer the…