The statistic represents the company’s June data points, with the NES Classic selling more units than the Xbox One and PS4. However, the PS4 topped the charts again in terms of revenue. It sits next to a 21% increase in hardware spending since the beginning of 2018, at $1.7 billion. When compared to a year ago, hardware sales in June grew 52% to $350, apparently driven by Fortnite, E3, and increased NES Classic distribution.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) August 1, 2018 Ths short of it is that despite many being in the same ‘generation’ console sales are extremely healthy. Part of that is due to the Switch, which jumped by 50%. However, software sales are a little more mixed.
Some Software Surprises
According to Piscatella, dollar sales of games software across console, portable and PC fell by 1% compared to last year. However, year to date, software spending is up 6% versus a year ago. Still, some of the most interesting statistics come in the form of sales on a per game basis. Unsurprisingly, God of War remains the second best-selling title, with Sony recently admitted far exceeded expectations. Mario Tennis Aces was the best selling game in June, propelling Switch to be the only platform with software growth in the month. It achieved the highest sales for a tennis genre in NPD’s history, placing Nintendo as the best-selling publisher in June. Either way, this month is fairly good news for Microsoft, though it’s worth noting that these aren’t official sales figures. The company doesn’t publish these, and NPD’s data comes from measurements from retailer and customer interviews. It’s unlikely Xbox One will catch up to the PS4 this generation, but it’s good to see that the consoles are still experiencing significant growth. It bodes well for Microsoft’s next venture, which will allegedly be two Xbox Scarlett consoles in 2020.
