NPD: GTA IV, Mario Kart Drive U.S. Game Industry Sales to $1.23 Billion in April

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NPD: GTA IV, Mario Kart Drive U.S. Game Industry Sales to $1.23 Billion in April
GTA IV sold 1.85 million units on 360 vs. 1 million on PS3, while hardware sales for both platforms mysteriously failed to top 200K. Regardless, the Wii once again was in complete control.
Posted by James Brightman on Thursday, May 15, 2008


GameDaily BIZ has received the April video game sales data from The NPD Group, and as expected Rockstar Games' GTA IV and Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii really drove the market. Total industry sales were $1.23 billion, up 47 percent, bringing sales year-to-date to $5.47 billion. Considering the incredible year that was 2007, it's amazing to see the U.S. game industry already tracking up 31 percent through April in 2008. This will truly be another outstanding year.

Hardware sales in April grew 26 percent to $426.2 million while software sales exploded, jumping 68 percent to $654.7 million. Accessories sales also grew 39 percent to $154 million.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 were also dead even, posting sales of 188K units and 187.1K units, respectively. Surprisingly, neither console topped 200K even with the talk of GTA IV boosting sales. In terms of hardware, Nintendo completely dominated once again. The GTA-less Wii sold 714.2K units while the DS sold 414.8K. Rounding out hardware, the PSP sold 192.7K and the PS2 sold 124.4K.

On the software front, the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV racked up 1.85 million units compared to 1.00 million for the PS3 version. So as it turns out, the GTA sales breakdown from leading retailer GameStop was almost exactly right (if you do the math, you'll get about 65 percent vs. GameStop's 64 percent). Sandwiched in between the two versions of GTA was Mario Kart Wii, which sold 1.12 million.

Here are the top 10 games for April (ranked by units):

1. GTA IV – Xbox 360 – 1.85 million*
2. Mario Kart Wii – Wii – 1.12 million
3. GTA IV – PS3 – 1.00 million*
4. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – 360K
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii – 326K
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue – PS3 – 224K
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness – DS – 202K
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time – DS – 202K
9. Guitar Hero III – Wii – 152K
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Xbox 360 – 141K*

* includes bundles, collector's editions, GOTY editions

[blackdelsol94]

Immediately after getting our hands on the April data, we caught up with NPD's Anita Frazier to get her analysis on several key data points. Here's our Q&A.


GameDaily BIZ: What's your analysis of the SKU breakdown for GTA IV? Considering the difference in installed bases, 1 milion for PS3 vs. 1.85 million for 360 isn't so bad for Sony right?

Anita Frazier: The sales were strong for both platforms. Each can claim a victory if you will on different measures - the 360 captured the greatest unit sales while PS3 had a greater attach rate to its install base. Anyway you slice it, sales of over a million units (per platform) is great. With results like these, and with the industry growing as it is, there seems to be room for more than one player to succeed.

BIZ: With all the talk about GTA IV driving increased sales of PS3 and 360 hardware, I was surprised to see both systems under 200K, while the Wii (sans GTA) just blew them out of the water. What happened?

Frazier: If there was one thing that surprised me about the sales results, this would be it. I had expected greater hardware sales for both platforms as well, and my hunch is that with only 5 days of GTA IV sales captured in this data set, we may see that lift when the May data is released. It could be that many of those that went to buy the game in its first 5 days at retail were already owners of one or both of the systems and that down the road game sales may spur hardware sales.

BIZ: Will Wii Play ever drop out of NPD's monthly top 10 charts? It's truly uncanny...

Frazier: Yes, its staying power is impressive, but if you think about it, with all those new hardware owners coming into the market each month, Wii Play is a natural second title (to the in-pack Wii Sports) to acquire, so I expect that as long as we continue to see robust hardware sales we'll see the game continue to rank in the top 10. What's interesting is that it can continue to post such high attach rates to new hardware sales even when there are blockbuster alternatives such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. available, as has been the case last two months.

BIZ: Is the PS2 finally on the decline? Just 124K units sold...

Frazier: The PS2 provided a very strong foundation to the PlayStation brand during the console transition, but I would expect that the momentum has turned toward all the newer generation systems - but that doesn't mean that the PS2 can't continue to garner strong sales, particularly in software.

BIZ: With four months of 2008 data under your belt, what trends have you observed?

Frazier: First, this industry can continue to realize strong sales despite a difficult economy, although I've been hearing personal anecdotes from some of my core gaming friends that they're starting to feel the pinch, particularly from increased gas prices, and that that is starting to make them at least pause before making game purchases. So far though, industry results have not reflected any impact from these recessionary times. Second, compelling games can ring up big sales, even in the "slower" months of the year. A game does not have to be released in the fourth quarter to sell over a million units. Finally, as you mentioned with Wii Play, more casual non-traditional content can be a big part of this industry and I'm going to be very interested to see how Wii Fit does - because that's about as non-traditional as it comes!

BIZ: Thanks very much Anita.
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