There was no major upset in the December NPD report, as the PlayStation 4 slumped to its second defeat of the calendar year. Sony's system was on top for the first ten months of 2014, but lost out to Microsoft's major Xbox One price promotions in November - and that continued through December, too. Despite this, its console still did enough to top the hardware sales for the year as a whole.
Moreover, in a statement to Venture Beat, it noted that its next-gen appliance is the fastest selling PlayStation ever with 18.5 million units, and it doesn't see its momentum slowing moving forward. "We are looking forward to another momentous year in 2015, and bringing an epic lineup of titles to PlayStation fans around the world," a spokesperson said. To be fair, the lineup does look good.
Overall, it was a relatively solid year for the American video game industry, with increased hardware sales making up for a drop in software purchases. Hardware was up a staggering 20 per cent on the back of the new platforms, pulling in $5.07 billion in total. Software dipped 13 per cent to $5.3 billion, while accessories climbed by five per cent to $2.73 billion.
Sales in December dropped by one per cent year-over-year, with hardware and software down four per cent and two per cent respectively. It's important to remember that both the PS4 and Xbox One were still new in the last month of 2013, so it's no surprise to see some decline in comparison. Regardless, the industry still managed to pull in $3.25 billion for the month, which is not to be sniffed at.
The biggest disappointment for Sony will be that of the top ten best-sellers, only Far Cry 4 performed best on its box last month - a shock considering its larger install base. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the best seller in December, followed by Grand Theft Auto V and Madden NFL 15. Meanwhile, NBA 2K15, Minecraft, Destiny, and FIFA 15 rounded out the top ten.
Sledgehammer Games' first-person shooter was also the best selling game of 2014 in total, with Watch Dogs also joining that particular party in eighth. PS4 software performed much better in the yearly totals, with many of the titles posting their strongest numbers on the Japanese giant's next-gen machine. We've included all of the charts below.
Top Ten Physical Retail Releases: December 2014
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3)
- Madden NFL 15 (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3)
- Super Smash Bros. (Wii U, 3DS)
- NBA 2K15 (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3, PC)
- Minecraft (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
- Far Cry 4 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
- Just Dance 2015 (Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, PS3)
- Destiny (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3)
- FIFA 15 (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Wii, 3DS, Vita)
Top Ten Physical Retail Releases: 2014 in Total
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3, PC)
- Madden NFL 15 (Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, PS3)
- Destiny (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3)
- Minecraft (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
- Super Smash Bros.(3DS, Wii U)
- NBA 2K15 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
- Watch Dogs (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
- FIFA 15 (Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Wii, 3DS, Vita)
- Call Of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PC)
[source gamesindustry.biz, via venturebeat.com, neogaf.com]
Comments 21
Xbox 360 is still amazingly popular in America it would seem. Expect those cross-gen games to continue through 2015...
@get2sammyb yea, I was noticing that. Also strange is that Just Dance still sells in greater numbers on the Wii, which you would've thought that would be long dead, in spite of the Wii install base.
I wonder if 2015 will be the last year of cross-gen titles...
That's a lot of money for a month, dude. Can you imagine how fast they'll sell bundles with Battlefront, Phantom Pain, etc? It's finally 2015, my body is so ready
I'm surprised Destiny didn't sell best on PS4. It's easy to forget it's on last gen consoles, and PS4 is all that comes mind (not Xbox) when you think of Destiny due to all of the marketing.
Oh man this year is shaping up to be so awesome for ps4 exclusive wise. I can't wait.
On another note, I'm actually really really surprised that most of the games sold better on xbox one, with ps4 evidently having a much bigger install base. Also really surprised that dragon age sold better on xbox one than anywhere, even pc. Really different.
My guess is that those loyal to ms are more than happy to stick with their 360 as xbone ain't much of an upgrade, I suppose you could compare it to ps3 owners in Japan.
Playstation still going to sell more cause with street fighter 5 being a exclusive now sony will be making up from there OYEAH!!
defeat because they got outsold in the USA. What happened to total sales or are you going to break it down by state then city so you can say Microsoft outsold PS4 some place?
Not too worried...Sony still beat Microsoft in total unit sold since it's launch. With the amount of exclusives coming out to PS4 compared to the exclusives arriving for XOne, it seems that Playstation will dominate again. Uncharted 4 will destroy the competition!!!! I really wish that the Wii U would outsell the X-box One, but that's dreaming. It's going to be good to see what happens when Sony and Microsoft drop prices and the Wii U is almost the same price.
@JohnKarnes What are you even ranting about, these are the sales for the whole US stop acting like a fanboy and just accept the fact Xbox one beat the PS4 in sales last month.
So after all SONY's good work they 'might' lose the USA in sales?! I knew SCEA would be useless after a while just look at how the PS3 done in the USA :-/ But saying that now that the Holidays are over & the clueless parents are not buying the cheaper console in the fire sales the $399 PS4 might beat the $349 X1. See how this month goes in the USA i guess.
Why is it I keep seeing articles about Sony losing two months straight? Why on the other hand do we only get the figures of playstaion 4 sales and not Xbox one?
Ohhhh Sony loses two months in a row! Yeah but what are the overall sales? They must be massively insignificant to 18.5million otherwise we won't hear oh we've shipped 1 trillion consoles to retailers. My Xbox 1 is collecting dust, however I still maintain it has a lot going for it and sunset overdrive was massively underrated, although I am looking for hard excuses to stick up for its cause.
Let's face it from a hardware perspective both consoles are inferior to what they should have been and the overdue release of both is no one's fault but Microsoft and Sony, they are both incredibly greedy corporations and "we the gamers" are getting shoveled turd as a result.
Hugely dissapointing 2014,
If your consoles are struggling with 30fps at 1080p you need to start asking questions about the console industry entirely. Nothing has wowed me and I doubt not much will for the next tiring 6-8 years.
@get2sammyb I am more than happy with cross gen games, what I hate (and have stopped playing multiple franchises because of) is last gen only games (especially in major franchises like Assassins Creed or Borderlands). I am not the kind of person that demands the highest resolution textures and special effects, so a cross gen game is just fine with me (I love remakes/remasters as well!)
@Sir_JBizzle - "Just Dance still sells in greater numbers on the Wii"
I bet half those people buying Just Dance on the Wii don't even know Wii U exists and have no intention of buying any other console. They have the Wii sitting there collecting dust so every year they buy Just Dance. And maybe the new Skylanders game. (DI dropped Wii last year).
Congrats to MS, keep Sony on ots toes. This is good for us as gamers, we don't want anyone getting lazy. But I smell a $349.99 ps4/uncharted4 E3 announcement coming on, and a possible $299 stand alone ps4, right behind that one. Odds are with the former, though.
More articles about sales numbers......ugh.
Let me sum this up.........both consoles are selling well, which is good for gamers & the industry.
Simple.
What's surprising is the software sales where the Xbox One is beating the 360 in most instances. I wonder if its just the PS userbase mostly jumping onto to digital titles. Destiny is in particular the most surprising title the way Sony beat its drum as if was exclusive.
In general 2014 was a decent enough year for all three system and 2015 looks to be even better.
Love my PS4, great console.....yes both consoles are austerity consoles, but hey, when you are barrelling down a road in an M5 in the rain, trying to keep the back end behind you, nothing beats it.
Also, must mention the colour palette in Drive club....its fantastic, especially when compared with the likes of the Crew, which seems to have gravy smeared on it.
@Godsire-
Yup, both are selling well. Now all we need is for idiotic third parties to realize this and move on from the damn cross-gen nonsense.
"Software dipped 13 per cent to $5.3 billion, while accessories climbed by five per cent to $2.73 billion."
And the software sales keep dipping. Seems more people bought a PS4 to use the camera accessory rather than play different games. The software will probably bump up once Bloodborne and UC4 release.
But yeah, seems Sony and MS are doing well in the console department.
Guess reducing the Price of the Xbox one as well as the promotion for 100 bucks off if you trade in a PS3 or 360 certainly helped in making them win for those two months.
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