NPD: Game Industry Sales Hit $1.33 Billion in February

Recession or no, the game industry keeps chugging along. Call of Duty 4 took top honors again while Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 also sold well. Wii and DS dominated hardware.

Posted by James Brightman on Thursday, March 13, 2008

NPD: Game Industry Sales Hit $1.33 Billion in February

GameDaily BIZ has received the February video game sales data from The NPD Group and software sales were even higher than analysts had predicted. Total software sales came to $668.7 million, up 47 percent, while hardware sales grew 19 percent to $480 million. Accessories also grew 36 percent, totaling $185.3 million. Overall, total industry sales increased 34 percent to $1.33 billion.

In terms of hardware, it was once again pure Nintendo domination. The DS sold a whopping 587.6K units while the Wii sold 432K units. The Xbox 360, which Microsoft said would likely trail the PS3 because of supply constraints, sold 254.6K units. The PS3 sold 280.8K units. Surprisingly, the old PS2 put up very respectable numbers with 351.8K units. Finally, the PSP also fared decently with another 243.1K units sold.

"So far this year the growth volume has surprised me a bit especially considering the state of the economy right now." - Anita Frazier, NPD

On the software side, Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare continues to show its long legs, securing the top spot with more than 296,000 copies sold. Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 (on Xbox 360) was hot on its heels with 295.2K units sold. The Xbox 360 version of the game outsold the PS3 version by more than 60,000 units. Nintendo's Wii Play was also once again near the top, showing that packaging a Wii remote controller with some mini-games is a winning combination.

Here's the top 10 (ranked by units) as provided by NPD:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Xbox 360 – Activision – 296.2K*
2. Devil May Cry 4 - Xbox 360 – Capcom – 295.2K*
3. Wii Play w/remote - Wii – Nintendo – 289.7K
4. Devil May Cry 4 - PS3 – Capcom – 233.5K*
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Wii – Activision – 222.9K*
6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - DS – Sega of America – 205.6K
7. Lost Odyssey - Xbox 360 – Microsoft – 203.6K
8. Turok - Xbox 360 – Touchstone – 197.7K
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - PS2 – Activision – 183.8K*
10. Rock Band - Xbox 360 – MTV Games/EA – 161.8K

* Includes Collector's, Limited, Legendary, Bundles (Guitars) Editions

Next page: In-depth commentary from NPD analyst Anita Frazier

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