NPD: U.S. Video Game Sales Were Down in November

By Geoff Duncan December 11, 2009

Market analysis firm NPD has released its tally for U.S. video game and game hardware sales for November 2009, and on the surface the numbers aren’t all that encouraging, with sales down 7.6 percent compared to November of 2008. But there are two important things to remember: first, economic tough times are inhibiting consumer spending, and, second, November of 2008 was a bit of an outlier, with several major game releases and strong console sales. Nonetheless, industry watchers are disappointed…especially since the November figures include Black Friday, and November is historically a strong indicator of how December sales will go.

call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For the month, hardware sales were down 13.4 percent compared to November of 2008. The Nintendo Wii was again the top-selling console for the month, moving 1.26 million units. However, that’s down a long way from the more than 2 million Wiis Nintendo managed to sell during November 2008. Microsoft sold 820,000 Xbox 360s in November—down only about 15,000 units from last year—while Sony pushed 710,000 PlayStation 3s into consumers’ hands. Of the major consoles, only the PS3 showed year-on-year growth, thanks to price cuts: in November 2008, it sold only 378,000 units.

Amongst software titles, Call of Duty was the top selling game in November, selling more than 6 million copies for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II also did solid business.

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