Considering that Microsoft announced its Xbox One price drop at the start of May, there was never going to be much chance of the maligned machine overcoming the PlayStation 4 in the latest NPD report – and as expected, Sony has revealed that it accrued the most next-gen hardware sales for a fifth consecutive time in the United States last month.
Of course, a slew of big new releases helped to keep the Japanese giant’s platform at the top, while also providing some positive numbers for the industry as a whole. Spend on physical hardware and software across all platforms increased by 52 per cent year-over-year, raking in a rock solid $586 million. Watch Dogs was a big contributor to that, as the hack happy escapade topped the charts.
In fact, software sales were up 20 per cent over April, with Ubisoft's abovementioned sandbox debut becoming the French firm’s fastest ever seller over a 24 hour period. The success wasn’t limited to supercharged smartphones, however, as MLB 14 The Show hit back hard, finishing in third overall. It even outsold the mighty Minecraft, which launched physically on the PlayStation 3 last month.
Fascinatingly, the PS4 versions of all multiformat releases outsold their Xbox One counterparts, though the Xbox 360 did continue to prove its popularity in some instances, with the last-gen editions of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, NBA 2K14, and Call of Duty: Ghosts performing particularly well.
Still, all three major manufacturers will be pleased to see overall hardware sales jump by 95 per cent year-over-year, with Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen systems in particular propelling console sales up from $96 million to $187 million. The folks at GameStop will no doubt be rubbing their hands with glee ahead of the fast approaching holiday shopping season.
We’ve included the full list of software movers and shakers below. So far, Sony’s done an excellent job of extending its lead in the United States, but in next month's report, it will come up against a cheaper Xbox One hardware model. With both The Last of Us Remastered and Destiny right around the corner, though, we reckon that the firm will be quite optimistic about the future.
Top Ten Physical Retail Releases: May 2014
1. Watch Dogs (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
2. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
3. MLB 14: The Show (PS4, PS3, Vita)
4. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
5. Minecraft (360, PS3)
6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U)
7. NBA 2K14 (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC)
8. Titanfall (360, Xbox One, PC)
9. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
10. Call of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC, Wii U)
[source venturebeat.com, via neogaf.com]
Comments 13
It's only going to get better for the PS4. Sony is still going to announce new games at gamescom & TGS. I'm sure those will provide some good surprises. Not only that, this is the first year and Sony is clearly still warming up, they haven't even gone full throttle yet. O.O
@Demi_God True, but Microsoft will come back. Halo will be big for them. The problem is, it's still five months away.
N'Y'PD
That Destiny PS4 bundle will do wonders for them I imagine. I might actually get that bundle.
@get2sammyb
Been tracking high on amazon.com and I believe was at No. 1 on best sellers for gamestop.com. For just a series of re-releases it's doing pretty damn good and will make an impact. I'm interested to see how TLoU remastered does by comparison. Frankly TLoU is better than any of the Halo games but it's also just a year-old and the re-release is only one game at $60 vs. 4 great ones and H2 with the classic multiplayer left untouched for the same price.
I'm not a sports game fan, but mlb the show is absolutely fantastic.
I love the MLB show games!! Been playing since PS2. I felt this years game was a bit underwhelming but i have exceptionally high expectations from the series. I'm sure when it's current gen only the game will be mind blowing.. i am enjoying MLB the Show 14 quite a bit though even with it being less than expected and am VERY happy for it's success.
@Swiket That's really quite impressive. Especially in North America. The split was similar in the UK, too.
At what point should we feel sorry for MS?
TLoU: Remastered will move units. Glad I went PS4 first this-gen
@SimonAdebisi When Kingdom of Hearts III launches.
This topic is same as usual for the fifth month, but the upside is according to neogaf PS Vita is at 56k with Borderlands 2 and Wii U did 61k with Mario Kart 8. Wait? Oh my!
@get2sammyb
Hopefully splits like that continue and hopefully it means we can start moving on from cross gen sooner rather than later. Though the rumors I'm hearing about Rise of the Tomb Raider are quite disappointing. I'm sure it'll still be a great game but damn. I just feel like cross-gen does hurt development to a degree, maybe not significantly but I'd imagine if the focus was strictly the new consoles it'd be an even better product. At some point, you have to move on.
@SimonAdebisi never? They just need to deal with it. 😉
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