Support NeoGAF

[EventHorizon]

Whilst the YoY increase looks good this month. The overall market still doesn't look good compared to last gen, or even the previous one.

A big reason for fewer sales is that fewer people will own multiple consoles (reasons given below). While this will probably cut into sales of exclusive games, it won't represent the health of the industry as a whole since the sale of cross platform games should be unaffected. On top of this, consoles weren't as supply constrained at launch compared to previous generations so many of the sales that would traditionally be made now have already happened.

Reasons for Fewer Dual Console Owners

• Both the XB1 and PS4 debuted at the same time. It is a lot less likely that someone is going to drop the money for both consoles within a few months of each other. This is especially true in the first year when there aren't many exclusives to differentiate the two.
• Rise of the third party software. There is less of a need to own two consoles when most of the popular games are available on both.
• Subscription now required for both systems for online play. This just increases the cost of owning a second console which will reduce demand.

 

[Swass]

Do preorders count the time of preorder or do they count at the time of shipment to the customer? Reason I ask is because the Xbox One really hasn't seen a bump since the Kinect Free version launched as kinoki mentioned. However, there were 3 weeks in May where stores took preorders that, depending on the answer to the above, really could help June's numbers since they wouldn't reflect in best seller lists.

 

[DieH@rd]

Do preorders count the time of preorder or do they count at the time of shipment to the customer? Reason I ask is because the Xbox One really hasn't seen a bump since the Kinect Free version launched as kinoki mentioned. However, there were 3 weeks in May where stores took preorders that, depending on the answer to the above, really could help June's numbers since they wouldn't reflect in best seller lists.

NPD counts only sales, not preorders.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Bravely Default 300k, cool! I'm planning to buy it next year.

 

[Swass]

NPD counts only sales, not preorders.

Thanks for the quick response, so yeah June will probably be pretty close depending on preorder totals for the Kinect free sku even though best seller lists don't reflect this.

 

[Asd202]

Thats pretty telling and its only NPD, something the 360 used to wipe the floor with PS3. Imagine the EU situation.



SE JRPG SALES (JP+US)

FF13: LR: 625k
BD: 553k

FFX HD: 801k

Look at this.....just look at it Square. Stare at it. You know what to do. Now do it:

EU numbers are most likely lower than US meaning LR won't reach even 1 million. What a failure they would be better of outsourcing the FF XII HD port instead of that game.

 

[Trent Strong]

Watch Dogs selling so much better on PS4 should be a red alert for MS. No winder they cut the price.

It only sold a couple of hundred thousand more on the PS4. I was expecting the gap to be bigger honestly.

 

[luca_aros]

Hoping SSB helps out the Wii U even more...needs support and install base right now!

Bring on 2015 though! Looks like it'll be an amazing year!

 

[kinoki]

NPD counts only sales, not preorders.

What I listed from is their best sellers data. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is bought and payed for. Could be pre-orders too. However I don't see how NPD would report a sale on a Destiny PS4 bundle next month. So I'm guessing they're counting "shipped to customer" and not actual sales.

 

[mclem]

If people weren't interested in these games enough to buy a Wii U, why they would be now?....

There's a gulf between "Interested enough to purchase the console for" and "Interested to purchase when I own the console"

The problem is that new releases are more obvious and in your face. They're in weekly circulars as new, big games, they're new on shelves, there's significant zeitgeist around them.

Yes, I agree that that's the problem. It shouldn't be, but that's by the by! My hunch - and I stress it's a hunch - the 'free game with Mario Kart' promotion is in part to try to spread some word of mouth about the games; give Wonderful 101 for free to one purchaser, and they'll tell their karting friends who might individually pick it up.

It's a sensible experiment, I think, given that the library *is* pretty solid now. Not sure if it'll work, but I think it's a smart attempt at solving the problem you described.

I can't think of an example of a game that was ignored at launch and six months to a year later became a major part of its sales base.

Demon's Souls had a slow start, didn't it? Probably a more rapid ramp-up than 'six months to a year later', though.

 

[V_Arnold]

I know this is a thread about NPD, but I don't think it makes any sense to confine ourselves to the American context when discussing the futures of these consoles.

My point is that when people say in an NPD thread that MS will be up in sales once the blockbusters come in (not Titanfall, but Halo Coll, a new Gears, and to a lesser extent, even Horizon 2, etc), then it is not useful to say how not viable you think that strategy is globally. The thing is: it IS absolutely viable in the US. It is horrifyingly bad as a tactic in Japan, and it is anything but useful in mainland EU, except for maybe the UK.

So we can talk sales trends, but MS franchises indeed are strong in North America, strong enough to start closing gaps or lessen the widening speed of it. I agree that it wont be enough everywhere else, though.

 

[spekkeh]

Too bad Wii U didn't outsell XB1 (yet), though worldwide it should be doing a lot better than XB1 course.

 

[Bruno MB]

Is it possible to do the same for other games with updated LTD? South Park seems to have slowed down heavily since its release, IIRC.

Launch month:

[3DS] Bravely Default (Nintendo) {02/07/2014} - 160,000
[PS3 - 360] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) {02/11/2014} - 165,000
[WIU] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {02/21/2014} - 120,000
[PS3 - 360] South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft) {03/04/2014} - 440,000
[XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 865,000 (bundled copies aren't included)
[PS3 - 360] Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games) {03/11/2014} - 350,000
[3DS] Yoshi's New Island (Nintendo) {03/14/2014} - 135,000 (bundled copies aren't included)
[MUL] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami) {03/18/2014} - 278,000
[PS3 - PSV] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix) {03/18/2014} - 260,000
[3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) {05/02/2014} - 41,000

LTD sales as of May 31, 2014:

[3DS] Bravely Default (Nintendo) {02/07/2014} - 258,000 (+ 98,000, 3 months)
[PS3 - 360] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) {02/11/2014} - 206,000 (+ 41,000, 3 months)
[WIU] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {02/21/2014} - 258,000 (+ 138,000, 3 months)
[PS3 - 360] South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft) {03/04/2014} - 507,000 (+ 67,000, 2 months)
[XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 969,000 (+ 104,000, 2 months)
[PS3 - 360] Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games) {03/11/2014} - 421,000 (+ 71,000, 2 months)
[3DS] Yoshi's New Island (Nintendo) {03/14/2014} - 256,000 (+ 121,000, 2 months)
[MUL] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami) {03/18/2014} - 357,000 (+ 79,000, 2 months)
[PS3 - PSV] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix) {03/18/2014} - 334,000 (+ 74,000, 2 months)
[3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) {05/02/2014} - 138,000 (+ 97,000, 1 month)

 

[shinra-bansho]

Demon's Souls had a slow start, didn't it? Probably a more rapid ramp-up than 'six months to a year later', though.

Demon's Souls sold about 150K at launch on one platform. It ended up having legs due to word of mouth. (For ref, Dark Souls I and II saw ~350K launches from memory across multiple platforms.)

The reality is that most games sell the bulk of what they ever will in their early months and my impression is that catalog software doesn't really drive hardware adoption, at least without new software releasing and/or upcoming to go with it. At least in the early phase of adoption I imagine.

Later when you're hitting more budget hardware prices I could see people picking up systems more to play older titles.

 

[MastaKilla]

I do wonder what effect the price parity will have on the average consumer. People here may be aware that the ps4 is slightly more powerful and that multiplatform games are likely to play better as a result. But does that shit really matter when it comes to the masses? I guess we're gonna find out next month.

 

[Bgamer90]

Way too early to say anything is set in stone lol. I'm sure in 2007 everyone said the PS3 was completely screwed yet they turned that boat around eventually. MS has a ton of money, and we haven't really even gotten our true current-gen titles on PS4/XB1 to decide anything yet except the current trends...

No, don't get me wrong. I definitely think the Xbox One will do better in sales in the future as more games get released alongside the inevitable Holiday season boost(s). I was mainly referring to worldwide sales. Would say it's almost impossible for the PS4 to lose its top spot. As of right now, MS can only hope to get #1 in America but the system needs some major games for that to happen and if it does happen I doubt it will happen anytime soon (anytime within the first four years of this gen).

 

[Bundy]

Updated Summary with Shinra's splits for consoles
PS4 ~ 194k
3DS ~ 87k
XB1 ~ 76k
Wii U ~ 60k
360 ~ 57k
PSV ~ 56k
PS3 ~ 36k
Wii ~ 11k

Ah, okay!
So these are the estimated sales for May NPD?

69. Bundy - 81,000

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Too bad Wii U didn't outsell XB1 (yet), though worldwide it should be doing a lot better than XB1 course.

I dunno. They are both doing terribly in EU, WiiU doing better in countries like France and XB1 doing much better in countries like UK.

In Japan Mario Kart caused a bump of less than 10k, WiiU sales have gone back to 13k.

Wish we could see EU hardware sales.

 

[lefantome]

True, forgot that this gen started much higher. This gen will never be able to keep up with the Wii though.

That's good be ause the wii u died at around 100 millions units 3 years before the release of the ps4 and xbox1. Ps2 sold 50 millions units after the debut of the 360.

 

[spekkeh]

I dunno. They are both doing terribly in EU, WiiU doing better in countries like France and XB1 doing much better in countries like UK.

In Japan Mario Kart caused a bump of less than 10k, WiiU sales have gone back to 13k.

Wish we could see EU hardware sales.

Those Japan sales are per week though, so that's 52k a month, easily offsetting the 15k difference in the US. I agree that XB1 and WiiU are probably about equal in the EU.

 

[Mpl90]

Last 4 years May-to-June transitions

2010

May

PlayStation 3 154.5K
PSP 59.4K
Xbox 360 194.6K
Wii 334.8K
Nintendo DS 383.7K

June

PlayStation 3 304.8K
PSP 121.0K
Xbox 360 451.7K
Wii 422.5K
Nintendo DS 510.7K

Average change weekly sales - 40,5%
Average change MOM - 78,4%

2011

May

Xbox 360: 270K (+39%) [Best Selling Console]
PlayStation 3: 177K (+15%) [Anita Frazier's Commentary: ((194.6K + 154.5K) * 1.28) - 270K]
Wii - 236K (-30%)
Nintendo 3DS - 97K
Nintendo DS - 194,000 (extrapolated)

June

Xbox 360 - 507,000
Wii - 273,000
PS3 - ~276,000 (extrapolated)
3DS - 143,000
DS - 386,000

Average change weekly sales - 29%
Average change MOM - 61,4%

2012

May

jvm's data, rounded to the nearest 5k

PS3 = 130K
PSP = 20K
PSV = 50K
Xbox 360 = 160K
Wii = 70K
3DS = 115K
NDS = 100K

June

Xbox 360: 257K (-49.3%)
Nintendo 3DS: 155K (+8.4%)
Nintendo DS: 150K (-61.1%)
Wii: 95K (-65.2%)
PS3 - 192,000 (extrapolated)
Vita + PSP: ~100K [According to Nintendo's PR statements.]

Average change weekly sales - 16,2%
Average change MOM - 45,3%

2013

May

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/stock/m.../slide04_l.jpg

Using 114k for Xbox 360 as a basis:

3DS: 115k
PS3: 85k
Wii: 36k
Wii U: 32.6k (corrected thanks to Aquamarine)
DS: 34k
Vita: 16k
PSP: 4k

June

3DS - 225K
360 - 140K
PS3 - 108K
DS - 54K
Wii - 53K
Wii U - 42K
Vita - 27K
PSP - 8K

Average change weekly sales - 28,67%
Average change MOM - 60,9%

Two warnings

1)Not all the numbers posted are the actual numbers: some of them are veeeeeeeeery accurate numbers, almost equal to the real ones, but not equal
2)Specific events that characterised the May-to-June transition (price drops, new SKUs, bundles) haven't been listed. If anyone can find major events happened, feel free to post them, and I'll add in the post. The same for more precise sales numbers, of course.

If I can, later I'll do the same, but for the first two May-to-June transitions for last gen home consoles.

 

[Mpl90]

Launch month:

[3DS] Bravely Default (Nintendo) {02/07/2014} - 160,000
[PS3 - 360] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) {02/11/2014} - 165,000
[WIU] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {02/21/2014} - 120,000
[PS3 - 360] South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft) {03/04/2014} - 440,000
[XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 865,000 (bundled copies aren't included)
[PS3 - 360] Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games) {03/11/2014} - 350,000
[3DS] Yoshi's New Island (Nintendo) {03/14/2014} - 135,000 (bundled copies aren't included)
[MUL] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami) {03/18/2014} - 278,000
[PS3 - PSV] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix) {03/18/2014} - 260,000
[3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) {05/02/2014} - 41,000

LTD sales as of May 31, 2014:

[3DS] Bravely Default (Nintendo) {02/07/2014} - 258,000 (+ 98,000, 3 months)
[PS3 - 360] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) {02/11/2014} - 206,000 (+ 41,000, 3 months)
[WIU] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {02/21/2014} - 258,000 (+ 138,000, 3 months)
[PS3 - 360] South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft) {03/04/2014} - 507,000 (+ 67,000, 2 months)
[XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 969,000 (+ 104,000, 2 months)
[PS3 - 360] Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games) {03/11/2014} - 421,000 (+ 71,000, 2 months)
[3DS] Yoshi's New Island (Nintendo) {03/14/2014} - 256,000 (+ 121,000, 2 months)
[MUL] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami) {03/18/2014} - 357,000 (+ 79,000, 2 months)
[PS3 - PSV] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix) {03/18/2014} - 334,000 (+ 74,000, 2 months)
[3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) {05/02/2014} - 138,000 (+ 97,000, 1 month)

Thanks, much appreciated

 

[Jack cw]

It only sold a couple of hundred thousand more on the PS4. I was expecting the gap to be bigger honestly.

"A couple of hundred thousand" is like 30$ million dollar more in sales and around 40% more sold games on that plattform. This is indeed worrying for Microsoft. Destiny and BF Hardline are basically marketed like PS4 games and even CoD Ghosts sold better on PS4...

 

[mrklaw]

It only sold a couple of hundred thousand more on the PS4. I was expecting the gap to be bigger honestly.

The gap is bigger than the HW installed base gap in the US, so PS4 is already selling disproportionately more than XB1. That to me shows the potential value of the co-marketing deal with Watchdogs.

Not sure how you could reasonably expect the gap to be even larger?

 

[benny_a]

"A couple of hundred thousand" is like 30$ million dollar more in sales and around 40% more sold games on that plattform. This is indeed worrying for Microsoft. Destiny and BF Hardline are basically marketed like PS4 games and even CoD Ghosts sold better on PS4...

How do you know? (US, as this is a NPD thread)

 

[SeanTSC]

How do you know? (US, as this is a NPD thread)

The NPD chart in the first post lists platform sales from highest to lowest after each title.

 

[Trent Strong]

The gap is bigger than the HW installed base gap in the US

Really? I constantly hear about how much the xbox one is struggling, so I thought the gap was much bigger, like a million.

 

[mclem]

Demon's Souls sold about 150K at launch on one platform. It ended up having legs due to word of mouth. (For ref, Dark Souls I and II saw ~350K launches from memory across multiple platforms.)

Ah, okay. Not too bad at the outset, then.

The reality is that most games sell the bulk of what they ever will in their early months and my impression is that catalog software doesn't really drive hardware adoption, at least without new software releasing and/or upcoming to go with it. At least in the early phase of adoption I imagine.

But the context of this isn't talking about hardware adoption, it's talking about having content available *after* you've adopted the hardware.

 

[benny_a]

The NPD chart in the first post lists platform sales from highest to lowest after each title.

Oh I was reading this as any meaning overall it sold better, not a single month 6-7 months after the launch of the game.

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

The NPD chart in the first post lists platform sales from highest to lowest after each title.

Not to mention that Ghosts on PS4 has been consistently higher in the UK charts. I think it's a safe bet that WW sales of Ghosts are higher on PS4 than X1.

 

[terrier]

"A couple of hundred thousand" is like 30$ million dollar more in sales and around 40% more sold games on that plattform. This is indeed worrying for Microsoft. Destiny and BF Hardline are basically marketed like PS4 games and even CoD Ghosts sold better on PS4...

this.

However Wolfenstein sales are much closer considering install base on both consoles. Is this a trend? I'd say that previous generation, fps usually sold better on 360 but when considering other genres like tps/openworld it was a closer battle, sometimes even 50/50.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Ah, okay. Not too bad at the outset, then.

But the context of this isn't talking about hardware adoption, it's talking about having content available *after* you've adopted the hardware.

I took ShockingAlberto's original post to be talking about maintaining hardware sales momentum going forward, not about having software available for people who have already adopted.

 

[Bruno MB]

Titanfall (standalone copies)

March 2014 - [XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 865,000 / NEW
April 2014 - [XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 77,000 / 942,000 (-91%)
May 2014 - [XBO] Titanfall (Electronic Arts) {03/11/2014} - 27,000 / 969,000 (-65%)

 

[Longsword]

The headlines on industry sites shout about the y-o-y sales increase, a first one in 6 months I believe.

We had Watch Dogs, Wolfenstein and Mario Kart in May 2014. What big releases did we have May 2013 so we could compare to assess how good this increase is?

 

[Wickerbasket]

Microsoft can't be happy with those hardware numbers.

Hopefully they were so low because of the impending price drop, but I have my doubts. We'll see next month though.

Nintendo Wii U numbers terrible as usual; maybe they'll pick up next month, but again I doubt it, unless there's some great Mario Kart bundle deals.

 

[Godzilla's Left Toe]

Use this:

50K off Vita, PS4, and Wii U.

It's sad so many people and sites actually believe their Bullshit

 

[mclem]

I took ShockingAlberto's original post to be talking about maintaining hardware sales momentum going forward, not about having software available for people who have already adopted.

Ah, you may be right; I may have misinterpreted his core point.

 

[Nicktendo86]

Disappointing wiiu sales, although just two days of Mario kart pushing may not be a fair reflection and might see better sales in June.

Am I right in saying bundles don't count? Would that include wiiu units bundles with Mario kart, or is it just for software that bundles dont count?

 

[Canis lupus]

Wait, Xbox One OVER Wii U?? I don't even know if that's good or bad

My prediction is so dead.

it's TERRIBLE

Wii U just had it's biggest game of the year, Xbone people waiting out for the 399 SKU, the stars were aligned but Wii U missed it's only chance to outsell one of the 2 other systems.

 

[pieatorium]

The headlines on industry sites shout about the y-o-y sales increase, a first one in 6 months I believe.

We had Watch Dogs, Wolfenstein and Mario Kart in May 2014. What big releases did we have May 2013 so we could compare to assess how good this increase is?

there wasn't any

Conversely though January, February, March and April 2013 had better release scedules than the corresponding 2014 months

 

[DaSorcerer7]

it's TERRIBLE

Wii U just had it's biggest game of the year, Xbone people waiting out for the 399 SKU, the stars were aligned but Wii U missed it's only chance to outsell one of the 2 other systems.

I think June may be a better indicator of sales for both systems.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

Is there a reason the OP doesn't have the actual numbers for console sales? Seems like everywhere in the thread people are talking about them but all the OP says is 'PS4 #1 selling console again'. Some of us have shitty firewalls at work and can't see the NPD site fully.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Use this:

50K off Vita, PS4, and Wii U.

HA @ chartz

 

[shinra-bansho]

Is there a reason the OP doesn't have the actual numbers for console sales? Seems like everywhere in the thread people are talking about them but all the OP says is 'PS4 #1 selling console again'. Some of us have shitty firewalls at work and can't see the NPD site fully.

Only information derived from PR or new sites/writers is included in the OP.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

Only information derived from PR or new sites/writers is included in the OP.

Does NPD's site not have the breakdown? I'm not kidding I literally cannot access their site at work so I have no idea. Also I can't believe people are quoting VGC in an NPD thread. SMFH

 

[stonesak]

HA @ chartz

The creationists of video game sales tracking.

 

[benny_a]

Does NPD's site not have the breakdown? I'm not kidding I literally cannot access their site at work so I have no idea. Also I can't believe people are quoting VGC in an NPD thread. SMFH

Yeah that Aquamarine has no fucking clue. SMSFH LOL

 

[Game Guru]

this.

However Wolfenstein sales are much closer considering install base on both consoles. Is this a trend? I'd say that previous generation, fps usually sold better on 360 but when considering other genres like tps/openworld it was a closer battle, sometimes even 50/50.

Actually yes... The people who by PlayStation consoles and the people who buy Xbox consoles are actually slightly different in terms of taste because of exclusive games from consoles past. For example, because Final Fantasy VII was such a massive hit that it put JRPGs on the map, PlayStation fans generally buy consoles for JRPGs and that ends up showing when comparing sales between the PS3 version and the 360 version of a game in that genre. In addition, PlayStation platforms are pretty much assured the genre. Conversely, because Halo 1 was such a massive hit on the original Xbox put FPS games on the map, Xbox fans generally buy consoles for FPS games. Xbox platforms are assured at least Halo as an exclusive, even if everything else sells on both systems. To put it in perspective, this is also why Nintendo does better with family-friendly games and platformers... Basically, each platform has cultivated certain genres because of their first-party games or exclusive third-party games which mark the lines for fans of those genres even in an era where every third-party is multiplatform.

Nintendo: Platformers, Party Games, Local Multiplayer
Sony: JRPGs, Fighters, Single Player
Microsoft: FPS, WRPGs, Online Multiplayer

One can see that whenever a certain console is successful, its particular style becomes more prevalent while competitors' styles fade into the background, but the styles each company has were pretty much defined by the PS2/GC/Xbox era and have not changed all that much since then.

 

[twobear]

MS sure are in a pickle. Nearly a year later and they still haven't recovered fully from their pre-release DRM/PR nightmare.

I don't think it's that, I think they're into another nightmare, which is that now they're at price parity with a console that's getting all of the best versions of every multiplatform game. MS really needed to go into Beast Mode with the exclusives this year if they were going to overcome that hurdle. But it's too late now, and in 2015 Sony's big exclusives are going to start hitting (The Order, Uncharted).

Of course the first year of bad PR hasn't helped. The Xbox brand is toxic for a lot of people now. The more militant gamers were probably actively recommending against their friends buying one (and perhaps, still are).

 

[Fox Mulder]

Huge base of 360 owners waiting for a price drop who didn't want kinect anyways

I just don't see it. I would have jumped on the $450 sales if I didn't have a speeding ticket to pay.

it just seems like a worse value, and I'm expecting a bundle this holiday. Why go out and buy now.