NPD: Video Game Sales Post Biggest Drop Since 2000

By Geoff Duncan July 17, 2009

NPD: Video Game Sales Post Biggest Drop Since 2000

Market analysis firm NPD has released its video game sales figures for June 2009…and the results are not pretty for the video game industry. According to NPD, compared to June of 2008 game sales fell since 29 percent to $625.8 million during the month, while hardware sales dropped a whopping 38 percent to $382.6 million. Sales of accessories also dropped 22 percent for the same period. Combined, the industry pulled in $1.17 billion for the month, which represents a 31 percent decline compared to a year ago—and that’s the biggest drop since the year 2000, when game sales slid a whopping 41 percent year-on-year.

“This is one of the first months where I think the impact of the economy is clearly reflected in the sales numbers,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier, in a statement. “The size of the decline could also point to consumers deferring limited discretionary spending until a big event (must-have new title, hardware price cut) compels them to spend.”

According to NPD, overall video game sales are down 12 percent for the year so far.

Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Wii was still the top-selling console for the month, moving some 362,000 units—although that figure is down almost 45 percent from June of 2008, which suggests the Wii is rapidly reaching market saturation after almost two years as the far-and-away leader in game console sales. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 came in second with 241,000 units and actually showed a year-on-year increase in sales—the only game console to do so. Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 rounded out the console market—Sony managed to move 165,000 PS3s.

Nintendo’s DS line continued to dominate the hand-held gaming arena, racking up some 767,000 sales compared to 164,000 for the Sony PSP.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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