Overwatch, the latest Multiplayer based action packed first person shooter dominated the charts in June as per NPD (National Purchase Diary) group’s monthly sales reports. It left behind(not by too much) the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5 and The Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The well known criminal extravaganza that is Grand Theft Auto 5 switches places with Overwatch for July’s best selling titles in gaming in the United States.
Though it is worth mentioning that Overwatch’s digital PC sales were not included in the analysis. Grand Theft Auto had multiple heavy discounts during numerous sales, added to it’s already lowered price due to its age. Although Overwatch stands as a fairly new craze, history has been a witness to lowered game prices leading to unexpected boosts in sales for an aging game.
The NPD group’s top 10 list is ranked in terms of dollar sales, instead of units sold in the past. It also covers both the digital and physical copies across all platforms(with a few exceptions).
Compared to July of last year, this July saw a 14% decrease in revenue on hardware, software, and accessories. This partly due to the lack of any new games during July 2016. Monster Hunter Generations played the role of the month’s biggest new release, though it sold 52% fewer dollars than July 2015’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, which released on both PS4 and Xbox One. Last month’s top ten games brought in 21% fewer dollar sales when compared year-over-year.
As NPD analyst Sam Naji stated:
Spending declined by 30 percent versus last July due to a 10 percent decline in unit sales and a 22 percent decline in the average price, Spending on portables increased by 23 percent, but this was offset by a 37 percent decline in spending for consoles. Total spending came to $141 million, a decline of $61 million compared to July 2015.
Talking about hardware, the Playstation 4 was outsold by the Xbox One last month. This was the first time that the Xbox One beat the PS4 since October 2015. Naji noted that “both consoles’ cumulative hardware sales have passed the Xbox 360 and PS3 within the same time frame”. Despite the fantastic performance by both consoles, it was Nintendo’s handheld masterpiece, the 3DS that came out on top last month.
Best-Selling Games in the US for July 2016
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Overwatch (does not include digital PC sales)
- Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Monster Hunter Generations (does not include digital sales)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Minecraft (does not include digital sales)
- NBA 2K16
- Doom (does not include digital sales)
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
